Russia plans to attack Ukraine's town of Siversk, claims UK Defence Ministry

As the ruthless war between Russia and Ukraine has entered day 135, with no signs of stopping, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the United Kingdom stated in its latest Defence Intelligence update that Moscow is probably concentrating equipment on the front line towards the direction of Ukraine’s city, Siversk, which is nearly 8 kilometres to the west of the present Russian front line. Taking to Twitter, the British Ministry claimed that before starting new military actions in Donetsk Oblast, it is probable that the Kremlin's soldiers are taking a break to resupply.   

The UK Defence Ministry further asserted, “There is a realistic possibility that Russia’s immediate tactical objective will be Siversk, as its forces attempt to advance towards its most likely operational goal of the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk urban area.” 

Meanwhile, it also highlighted that the Ukrainian soldiers are still slowly advancing in the southwest corner of Kherson. 

In addition to this, as per the Institute for the Study of War (ISW)'s report, the Russian Defence Ministry has revealed that Moscow's soldiers have been taking an "operational pause to rest and regain their combat capabilities". It added that Russian forces have been attempting to move towards Slovyansk from Izium and may be attempting to create the necessary conditions to advance from Barvinkove. ISW stated that Russian soldiers engaged in offensive operations in Bakhmut, and also launched a small assault on the area north of Kharkiv. 

Russia attacks Kharkiv region

According to the Kharkiv Prosecutor General's Office, Thursday's resumption of Russian bombardment in the area resulted in at least 3 fatalities. Further, on June 6, the occupying Kremlin forces attacked the Novodvorskiy, Kyivskyi, and Osnovianskyi districts of Kharkiv, resulting in the demolition of the Pedagogical University. These remarks were made on Telegram by Oleh Syniehubov, the chief of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration. According to him, Russians attacked the Osnovianskyi district at around 1:00 a.m. (local time) after hitting an open space. 

The Ukrainian official further disclosed that many buildings in the Novobavarskyi neighbourhood were destroyed and an administrative facility was targeted. In contrast, according to an Ukrinform report, a higher education center building in the Kyivskyi area was damaged by the missile assaults. 

UK's military assistance to Ukraine

Apart from this, the United Kingdom has decided to supply 10 self-propelled artillery systems as well as loitering munitions to the war-ravaging country in an effort to help Ukraine combat Russia's "unjustified" aggression. When discussing the update of talks undertaken at the G7 and NATO last week, outgoing UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made this suggestion public on Tuesday morning. The Johnson briefed Zelenskyy "on the latest UK military equipment, including 10 self-propelled artillery systems and loitering munitions, which would be arriving in the coming days and weeks," according to a press statement from the British government. 

The British government also pledged in June to provide its military assistance to President Zelenskyy by an additional £1 billion ($1.2 billion). The British government promised funds for weapons including advanced air defence systems, drones, as well as electronic warfare equipment.  

(Image: AP)