Heavy fighting continues in southern Ukraine, including shelling in the town of Energodar, near the Russian-controlled Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, as the Russian military begins joint military exercises called Vostok 2022 involving soldiers from several countries, Russia’s neighbors or allies, such as China, Belarus , Syria and India, in an attempt by Moscow to prove to the world that it is a military power, according to an assessment by the British Ministry of Defense on Friday morning.

On September 1, Russia began strategic military exercises in the east of the country called “Vostok-2022”, which will end on September 5.

While Russia has said 50,000 troops will take part in the exercise, it is unlikely that more than 15,000 will be involved this year, the UK Ministry of Defense says.

Russia’s military actions in Ukraine have shown that Russian strategic exercises such as Vostok have failed to support the military’s ability to conduct complex and large-scale operations, British military intelligence says.

The joint military exercises, which will be conducted according to a well-prepared scenario, do not encourage initiative and are primarily aimed at impressing Russian leaders and the international public, according to the British Ministry of Defense.

Follow the latest events of the 191st day of the war in Ukraine LIVETEXT on HOTNEWS.RO.