- Ukrainian forces have been moving more freely in the Zaporizhzhia region after breaching Russia’s strongest, most densely mined line of defences.
- There are “fewer minefields” but “one should not think that it will be easy to take them”, the spokesman for the defence forces said.
- “Sooner or later, the Russians will run out of all the best soldiers. This will give us an impetus to attack more and faster,”- Brigadier General Oleksandr
- Cyber attackers linked to Russia’s intelligence agency have been targeting the phones of Ukrainian soldiers with a “malware campaign”, according to British intelligence.
Ukrainian forces have been moving more freely in the Zaporizhzhia region after breaching Russia’s strongest, most densely mined line of defences, according to reports. Approximately 60% of Russian defences were located in the first line of defence and Ukrainian soldiers now face two weaker lines ahead, Suspilne, the Ukrainian public broadcaster, reported.
There are “fewer minefields” but “one should not think that it will be easy to take them”, Oleksandr Shtupun, the spokesman for the defence forces in the Tavria region, told the broadcaster. He confirmed reports by the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based thinktank, that Russia was redeploying elite airborne units to defend the area.
“This is their elite counts, so if they are already using their so-called elite in defensive battles, then something is wrong with them,” he said.
Brigadier General Oleksandr Tarnavskiy told The Guardian it took longer to demine the region at the start of the counteroffensive than was expected, but he was optimistic now that the barrier has been breached. “Sooner or later, the Russians will run out of all the best soldiers. This will give us an impetus to attack more and faster,” he said.
Cyber attackers linked to Russia’s intelligence agency have been targeting the phones of Ukrainian soldiers with a “malware campaign”, according to British intelligence.
A group known as Sandstorm has been deploying a virus named “Infamous Chisel” to steal sensitive military information, the UK Ministry of Defence said. It enables persistent access to Android devices and the extraction of data from them, said the MoD, citing a report by the National Cyber Security Centre. “This activity demonstrates Russia’s continued use of cyber capabilities to support the invasion of Ukraine,” it said.
(With inputs from agencies)
