A report by Ukrainian and Western intelligence officials also reveals that the Ukrainians are having great difficulty responding to the Russian bombardment with their artillery being limited to a range of 25 kilometers, while the enemy can strike from 12 times that distance. For the first time since the start of the war, there is now concern about poverty. The report, seen by The Independent, states that the deteriorating situation in Donbas, with up to a hundred soldiers being killed each day, has “a severely discouraging effect on Ukrainian forces as well as a very real material effect.” “Desertification cases are increasing every week.” At the same time, as the Russians occupy territory in the east and consolidate their control over the occupied cities of Mariupol and Kherson, the Ukrainian government’s negotiating position is weakened by the sharp inequality in the number of detainees held on each side. . The total number of Russian troops held by Ukraine fell to 550 from 900 in April following a series of exchanges. Moscow, meanwhile, has more than 5,600 Ukrainian soldiers in captivity, a number that is growing with the surrender of 2,500, including members of the Azov Battalion, in Mariupol. This difference in numbers between the two sides is revealed as both Kyiv and Moscow conduct highly publicized prisoner-of-war trials. Ukrainian courts in Kyiv and near Kharkiv have sentenced Russian soldiers to war crimes and sentenced them to long prison terms. Iryna Venediktova, the country’s attorney general, said on Wednesday that she had filed eight other cases. A Ukrainian soldier drives to Donetsk on Wednesday (EPA) Two Britons, Eden Aslin and Sean Piner, who were arrested while serving in the Ukrainian forces in Mariupol, are on trial in the separatist Donetsk People’s Republic, where prosecutors say they face the death penalty for “terrorism” and “mercenaries”. Russian state media reported on Wednesday that more than 1,000 Mariupol detainees had been transferred to Russia for “investigation”. Politicians in Moscow and the separatist democracies have threatened to hold “Nuremberg-type” trials of Azov prisoners accused of being neo-Nazis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, visiting the front line in Donbas on Monday, called on the Kremlin to hand over Mariupol detainees. Negotiations are under way, he said, but “unfortunately they are in the hands of the Russian Federation, which can not be trusted.” The intelligence report states: “The Russians insist on an exchange of prisoners one by one. This means that under the status quo, 4,500 Ukrainian prisoners may be held in Russian jails until a peace agreement is reached. “Moscow is likely to use it as a lever to destabilize Ukraine internally, unless there is social protection for their families and clear communications.” The assessment was made before the British government announced that it would supply a small number of M270 multi-launcher missile systems, but after the reported supply of Himars truck mobility missile systems from the United States. Britain is only sending three of the systems at the moment and Washington has sent four. Ukrainian officials say much more is needed to stop Russian advance, let alone regain lost ground, and that it will take time for systems to develop on the front lines as the Kremlin continues its fierce attack on Donbas. Ukrainian soldiers rest while patrolling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine (EPA) “We are, of course, very grateful to our allies for their support,” said a Ukrainian official. “The new weapons are welcome, but when they announce that they are sending military aid to Ukraine, the Western government may have to make its quantities clear to the public.” Reports on the ground support allegations of increasing casualties in Ukraine due to Russian firepower. The Independent last week saw casualties in the Ukrainian army and a lack of large-scale firepower to resist. One soldier interviewed in Lysychansk has since been killed and three others wounded. “It is clear that a conventional war can not be won if your side has many times fewer weapons, your weapons hit the enemy at a shorter distance and you have significantly less ammunition than the enemy,” the report said. He continued: “The tactical situation on the eastern front is as follows; the Ukrainian side has almost depleted its stockpiles of Smerch and Uragan MLRS missiles, which made it possible to effectively prevent Russian attacks during the first months of the war at long distances. [37 to 50 miles]. “Today, the maximum range of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is [15.5 miles]. This is the range at which the 152/155 mm caliber artillery and the Grad MLRS units that remain in service can fire. “ “At the same time, the enemy is hitting concentrations of Ukrainian forces from a distance [186 miles] with regular Iskander ballistic missiles, [43 to 50 miles] using the Smerch MLRS and Tochka-U, from [25 to 37 miles] using MLRS Hurricane. Ukrainian soldiers rest after digging trenches near the front line in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, on Wednesday. (AP) The report continues: “This creates a state of utter inequality on the battlefield, not to mention the complete dominance of enemy aircraft in the air, which can only occasionally be corrected with the use of Stinger [ground to air missiles] and mistakes of Russian pilots “. The assessment warns that the Russians are fully aware that a relatively small number of Western weapons have been sent and that delivery to battlefields is slow. “The Russians are seeking to take advantage of the time they have, using their artillery to try to penetrate the Ukrainian defenses in Donbas,” he said. He emphasized that the Javelin and NLAW anti-tank systems provided by the United States and the United Kingdom had proved effective on the battlefields around Kyiv and Kharkiv and remained so in Donbas. Switchblade attack drones have also caused significant damage to the Russians. However, he noted that anti-tank weapons “could not withstand Russian artillery and rocket launchers”. “The enemy is encircling the Ukrainian forces concentrated in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk,” he said. “It has become extremely difficult to defend these two cities, as the enemy has 80 percent fire control on the supply routes.”
