“Severely depleted” Russian Army companies in the Kherson sector have been fighting with between six and eight men each, when they should be formed of around 100 soldiers, the MOD has said.
In its daily update, the UK Ministry of Defence added: “In the last six weeks there has been a clear move from Russian ground forces to transition to a long-term, defensive posture on most areas of the front line in Ukraine.
“This is likely due to a more realistic assessment that the severely undermanned, poorly trained force in Ukraine is currently only capable of defensive operations.
“Even if Russia succeeds in consolidating long-term defensive lines in Ukraine, its operational design will remain vulnerable.
“To regain the initiative, it will need to regenerate higher quality, mobile forces which are capable of dynamically countering Ukrainian breakthroughs and conducting their own large-scale offensive operations.”