Aftermath of Russian missile strike on Ukraine mail depot that killed six
An ex-Russian officer has said Vladimir Putin’s forces are ‘deteriorating’ in Ukraine as the Crimea was hit by up to 17 drones.
Igor Girkin, an imprisoned Russian nationalist, said Putin’s forces would be “even less capable of offensive operations than they are now” by spring 2024, according to the Institute for the Study of War.
In a letter published by his wife, Girkin claimed that the situation for Russian forces was “gradually deteriorating” and that Russian forces were showcasing “growing weakness compared to Ukraine’s capabilities.”
He added that the Avdiivka offensive, where thousands of troops are said to have died, demonstrated the Russian Army’s inability “to achieve superiority on a very narrow sector of the front”, the ISW said.
It comes as Ukraine launched up to 17 drone attacks on Crimea and the Black Sea, which Russia destroyed and intercepeted, according to the Russian defence ministry.
Nine drones were destroyed by air defence systems and eight were intercepted by electronic warfare, it added. Explosions were heard near the towns of Novofedorivka and Saky, a Russian air base on the peninsula, just after 4am, according to local reports.
