Ukraine war update: Russia struggling to support invasion with sufficient aircrew - UK Defence Ministry

London: The Russian air force is struggling to support the invasion of Ukraine with sufficient aircrew, the UK Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence update on Friday. In its latest update, the ministry said that the Ukrainian forces have announced that the pilot of a Russian Su-25 Frogfoot ground attack aircraft shot down on 17 June was captured shortly afterwards.

The pilot, it said, has confessed to being a former Russian air force Major, who had taken employment as a Wagner military contractor and had flown several missions during the conflict.

"The use of retired personnel, now working as Wagner contractors, to conduct close air support missions indicates that the Russian air force likely is struggling to support the invasion of Ukraine with sufficient aircrew," the ministry said.

It further said that this is likely due to a combination of Russia’s insufficient numbers of suitably trained personnel and its combat losses. "Whilst conducting his missions, the Russian pilot reportedly used commercial GPS devices rather than Russian military navigation equipment. This likely indicates that Wagner aircraft are older models of the Su-25 and that the Russian air force is not providing Wagner with up-to-date avionics equipment," it said.

On Thursday, the UK defence intelligence said that since 19 June, the Russian forces have highly likely advanced over 5km towards the southern approaches of the Donbas city of Lysychansk. Some Ukrainian units have withdrawn, probably to avoid being encircled. "Russia’s improved performance in this sector is likely a result of recent unit reinforcement and heavy concentration of fire," it said.

After failing in initial days, Russia has put its focus on Donbass region, which comprises Donetsk and Luhansk - industrial heartland of Ukraine.

The UK update on Thursday said that the Russian forces are putting the Lysychansk-Sieverodonetsk pocket under increasing pressure with creeping advance around the fringes of the built-up area. However, its efforts to achieve a deeper encirclement to take western Donetsk Oblast remain stalled, it added.