MADRID, April 18. (EUROPEAN PRESS) –

British Intelligence Services said Tuesday that the Russian Army had reduced the number of troops deployed around the city of Donetsk to “shift resources” to the front in Bakhmut, where Russian troops, backed by mercenaries from the Wagner Group, continued to make “slow progress.” .”

“Heavy fighting continues on the front line in Donbas. There is a realistic possibility that Russia has reduced troop numbers while reducing its offensive actions around the city of Donetsk, most likely to divert resources to the Bakhmut sector”, they said.

As such, they have pointed out that “the front line in the city center (Bakhmut) largely followed the main railway line” and they have added that “Ukraine was generally holding out against the Russian encirclement movement from the south around Korsunskovo street, the old main road out of town”.

“For both sides, the exact order of any major reductions in their units around Bakhmut has been a crucial issue, with Ukraine looking to divest offensive power while Russia may aspire to regenerate operational reserves,” they reported, according to a series of reports. message published by the Russian Ministry of Defense through its account on the social network Twitter.

The British Intelligence agency’s assessment comes a day after the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that “two-thirds” of the city of Bakhmut, in the east of the country and pivotal in the context of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, had been “liberated” by Russian forces and was now under their control.