Putin evolves military group after heavy losses, claims UK
Russia has likely formed a new group of forces which was visited by Vladimir Putin on Tuesday after possibly facing heavy losses, the British defence ministry said.
It referred to the press release by the Kremlin on Mr Putin’s visit to southern Ukraine.
“Using the Russian spelling of Ukraine’s Dnipro river, the release described the president as having visited the ‘Dnipr Group of Forces’,” the ministry said.
It noted that this is one of the first references to the existence of a Dnipr Group of Forces (DGF).
“Russia uses the term ‘group of forces’ in a specific way, indicating a large, task-organised operational formation,” the MoD said.
“Early in the invasion, the Russian force was organised into groups of forces each aligned to their home military districts in Russia, for example, the Western and Central Groups of Forces. The existence of an apparently new DGF suggests that the original force organisation has evolved, probably due to heavy losses,” it said.
The defence ministry has said that DGF’s mission is likely to defend the southern sector of the occupied zone, and especially the south-western flank which is currently marked by the Dnipro river.
