President Vladimir Putin’s military has made gains in the battle for Donbas in eastern Ukraine but “at significant cost”, Britain has said.
As the war enters its tenth week, Russia is concentrating its efforts in the east of the country in a bid to secure control over the Donetsk and Luhansk breakaway enclaves. Invading troops have the advantage of being backed up by separatists who have been fighting Ukrainian forces in the region since 2014.
In an intelligence update issued on Friday morning, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said: “The Battle of Donbas remains Russia’s main strategic focus, in order to achieve its stated aim of securing control over the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts.
“In these oblasts fighting has been particularly heavy around Lysychansk and Severodonetsk, with an attempted advance south from Izium towards Slovyansk.
“Due to strong Ukrainian resistance, Russian territorial gains have been limited and achieved at significant cost to Russian forces.”
Officials at Britain’s Foreign Office are scrambling to gather more information following reports two British citizens had been captured by Russian forces in Ukraine.
UK non-profit organisation Presidium Network said that two civilians working as humanitarian aid volunteers were captured by President Putin’s forces on Monday at a checkpoint south of the city of Zaporizhzhia in south-eastern Ukraine.
They were not working for the Presidium Network, which helps to get aid into Kyiv.
The Foreign Office on Thursday confirmed a British man fighting alongside Ukrainian troops had been killed in the war. Scott Sibley is the first Briton confirmed to have died while fighting since Russia invaded on February 24.
The International Trade Secretary, Anne-Marie Trevelyan, said the death of a British military veteran in Ukraine was “terribly sad” but denied that Foreign Secretary Liz Truss caused confusion by saying in February she would support UK nationals who chose to fight for Ukraine.
“Terribly, terribly sad news to hear,” Ms Trevelyan told Times Radio.
“The Foreign Office are working closely with authorities in Ukraine and indeed supporting the family.
“But the government was clear that the travel advice was: do not go to Ukraine.
“It was clear and it was reiterated many times.”
The UK government announced on Friday it would send war crimes experts to help the Ukrainian government with investigations into Russian atrocities.
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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi shake hands as they meet in Kyiv. AP -
Floodwater edges towards homes in the small Ukrainian town of Demydiv. AFP -
Lila stands inside her apartment after a missile strike damaged a residential building in Dobropillia, in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Reuters -
Residents board-up windows of a damaged apartment building with plywood after Russian shelling in Dobropillya, Donetsk region. AP -
A police officer distributes humanitarian aid to people in Lyman, Donetsk. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers near Kramatorsk, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier receives medical treatment as he and others rest after fighting on the front line for two months near Kramatorsk. AFP -
Exhausted Ukrainian soldiers arrive at an abandoned building to rest and for medical treatment after fighting on the front line near Kramatorsk. AFP -
Ukrainians attend a solemn religious service to commemorate the fallen in the Russian occupation in Zdvyzhivka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP -
Hanna Selivon, 77, surveys what remains of her house, which she says was destroyed by Russian shelling on the outskirts of Chernihiv, Ukraine. Reuters -
Women cry as they take part in a rally demanding international leaders organise a humanitarian corridor for the evacuation of Mariupol, the besieged Ukrainian city where thousands are trapped. Reuters -
Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with kids in Lviv, Ukraine. AP -
Firefighters try to put out a blaze after an explosion in Kyiv as Russia mounts attacks across Ukraine. AP -
A car parked under a tree in the partially abandoned town of Chernobyl. AP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres leave a news conference in Kyiv. AP -
Military aid bound for Ukraine at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. President Joe Biden has asked Congress to agree to $33 billion to bolster Ukraine's fight against Russia. AP -
Members of the pro-Russia Donetsk People's Republic militia stand guard as civilians go to receive aid in Mariupol. AP -
A destroyed building in the south-eastern city of Mariupol. AP -
A Ukrainian girl with other civilians on a bus as they flee the violence in Slovyansk, in the Donetsk region. Reuters -
A block of flats reduced to rubble in Mariupol. Reuters -
Explosions in a village near the eastern city of Izium. Reuters -
A car and piled sleepers in flames after shelling near Lyman station in Lyman, eastern Ukraine. AFP -
Residents and members of the Ukrainian emergency services clear debris after a recent Russian rocket attack in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. EPA -
The Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow, where spokeswoman Maria Zakharova recently said that Ukraine had either carried out the executions of civilians in Bucha itself or positioned the bodies so as to incriminate Russian forces. AFP -
An aerial view of in a neighbourhood in Zaporizhzhia on the 65th day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
Clean-up crews at the site of an explosion in Kyiv, Ukraine. Russia struck the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv shortly after a meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP -
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a joint news conference in Kyiv as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Russia struck Kyiv shortly after the meeting between President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres. AP Photo -
Volodymyr Tykhonov, 76, opens the door of his garage, which is riddled with bullet holes, in Zahaltsi, Ukraine. Getty Images -
President Zelenskyy welcomes UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres before their meeting. Reuters -
Iulia Shevchuk rests in a reception centre for displaced people in Dnipro, Ukraine. AP Photo -
American 155 mm howitzers due to be being loaded on to a US Air Force plane to Ukraine. AFP -
Smoke rises after an explosion at sunset in Kyiv. Getty Images -
Ukrainian rescuers pull out a part of a rocket that remained after shelling in the eastern city of Kharkiv. EPA -
Lyubov, 85, stands in front of a 19th century wooden church, damaged by rocket attack, in the Zhytomyr region of Ukraine. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen on patrol in Luhanske village. EPA
The team will support the government in Kyiv in gathering evidence and prosecuting war crimes and will include experts in conflict-related sexual violence.
They will arrive in neighbouring Poland early next month to examine how they can assist.
Ms Truss vowed the victims would get justice.
“Russia has brought barbarity to Ukraine and committed vile atrocities, including against women. British expertise will help uncover the truth and hold Putin’s regime to account for its actions. Justice will be done,” she said.
The announcement comes as Ms Truss prepares to meet the president of the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Friday.
