UK: Russia facing dilemma on where to focus in Ukraine

An elderly local resident walks past a destroyed residential building in Chasiv Yar, Eastern Ukraine, on January 7, 2023, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. [Courtesy of AFP]

Britain's defense ministry said Sunday in an intelligence update about Russia's invasion of Ukraine that Russia seems undecided about where the greatest threat from Ukraine lies.

In the update, posted on Twitter, the ministry said, "The way Russia has worked on improving defenses suggests commanders are highly likely pre-occupied with the potential for major Ukrainian offensive action in two sectors: either in northern Luhansk Oblast, or in Zaporizhzhia. A major Ukrainian breakthrough in Zaporizhzhia would seriously challenge the viability of Russia's 'land bridge' linking Russia's Rostov region and Crimea; Ukrainian success in Luhansk would further undermine Russia's professed war aim of liberating' the Donbas.