In its daily intelligence update on Wednesday, the U.K. Defense Ministry reported that Russia’s military command has continued to strengthen its defenses far from the front line, including around the town of Armiansk in northern Crimea, where a narrow land bridge connects the peninsula to Ukraine’s Kherson region.
The ministry noted that the Russian authorities are devoting particular attention to defense in the area because they believe a “direct assault” on the annexed peninsula by Ukraine is possible.