According to the British defense ministry on Saturday, Russia is likely preparing to encircle the town of Bakhmut in the Donetsk Oblast.
The ministry added in a daily intelligence update that while the town’s capture would be of limited operational value, it might allow Russia to threaten Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
“There is a realistic possibility that Bakhmut’s capture has become primarily a symbolic, political objective for Russia,” the ministry said in the update posted on Twitter.
