Russia recruiting about 30,000 soldiers a month for Ukraine - intel

The Russian military recruits about 30,000 soldiers per month to sustain its all-out war on Ukraine, according to British intelligence released on Saturday, as Moscow's forces targeted Ukrainian infrastructure for another consecutive night.

"Russia maintains a significant quantitative advantage in the conflict, overmatching Ukraine in munitions and equipment numbers," the Ministry of Defence (MoD) in London said in its daily intelligence update on the war unleashed by the Kremlin more than two years ago.

"[Russia] is likely recruiting approximately 30,000 additional personnel a month and can highly likely continue to absorb losses and continue attacks aimed at wearing down Ukrainian forces," the statement published on X, formerly Twitter, continued.

According to British intelligence, Russian forces have been able to build on the recent capture of the eastern town of Avdiivka, maintaining "a gradual advance" west of the town.

"In late March 2024 they almost certainly took control of two villages - Tonenke and Orlivka - and are continuing to contest others in the area.

"Russia has continued attacks along several other points on the front line but has made little progress in recent weeks."

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, 2022, Kiev's forces were able to repel some of its initial advances and even regained some territories.

However, Ukraine is now at a crucial point in the war amid reports of ammunition shortages and difficulty in recruiting new soldiers for frontline operations. Morale was dented in February when the industrial town of Avdiivka fell to the Russians after a long and devastating battle.

Meanwhile, after employing the same tactics during the war's first winter, Russia has recently intensified its attacks on the country's energy infrastructure, hoping to demoralize Ukrainians.

Infrastructure was hit again in the central Ukrainian region of Poltava during overnight attacks by Russian forces, the Ukrainian military administration reported on Saturday.

The Ukrainian Air Force said nine of 12 aerial drones sent over by the Russians had been intercepted.

Apart from the drones, Russian forces also launched four S-300 and S-400 missiles. Both are designed as anti-aircraft missiles but have been converted to hit surface targets.

No casualties were initially reported.

Kharkiv close to the Russian border in the north-east has suffered repeated power cuts. On Saturday, the state-owned Centrenergo energy company reported that a power and heating plant had largely been destroyed in an attack on March 22.

Further emergency power cuts were reported from several Ukrainian regions on Saturday evening. Electricity supplier DTEK and regional authorities reported bottlenecks in Dnipropetrovsk, Sumy and Poltava.

In Kiev, President Volodymyr Zelensky, in the midst of Ukraine's current difficult military situation, dismissed several advisers, including his assistant Serhiy Shefir, who had held the post since 2019, according to a decree published on Saturday.

A press spokesman justified the dismissals with an "optimization of personnel" in the presidential office, Ukrainian media reported.

Zelensky has replaced some high-ranking officials several times in recent months.

A particular stir was caused in February when the commander-in-chief of the armed forces, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, had to vacate his post and hand it over to Oleksandr Syrskyi.