‘LASTING IMPACT’

Russian Military ‘Significantly Weakened’ by Invasion of Ukraine, Britain Says

The demands of a lengthy invasion and growing casualty figures will hit the Russian army in the long term, London says.

British intelligence said Tuesday that Russia’s vast army has been “significantly weakened” by its invasion of Ukraine and that the Russians had failed in “translating numerical strength into decisive advantage.” The Russian invasion plan, which foresaw the rapid seizure of the capital Kyiv and the speedy surrender of the Ukrainian army, has now changed to focus on the brutal domination of southern and eastern Ukraine, with thousands of troops pouring into and occupying the regions. London said the war was only damaging Russia’s military capability. The Ministry of Defense said: “The modernization of its physical equipment has not enabled Russia to dominate Ukraine. Failures both in strategic planning and operational execution have left it unable to translate numerical strength into decisive advantage…Russia’s military is now significantly weaker, both materially and conceptually, as a result of its invasion of Ukraine. Recovery from this will be exacerbated by sanctions. This will have a lasting impact on Russia’s ability to deploy conventional military force.” London estimates that around 15,000 Russian troops have been killed and up to 60,000 injured or incapacitated. Ukraine said Tuesday that 24,200 Russian troops had been killed since the start of invasion.