Russian soldiers' wives say their husbands are 'physically & mentally exhausted': UK MoD

Russian forces continue to carry out artillery bombardments in Ukraine's northern Donbas sector without succeeding in making any major territorial advances, the UK Defence Ministry said in its latest intelligence report. The UK Defence Ministry said that a woman has claimed that Russian personnel of Eastern Military District's 5th Separate Guards Tank Brigade are "mentally and physically exhausted" as they continue to remain on active combat duty since the Russian military offensive in Ukraine began on February 24. 

Citing a Russian media report, the UK Defence Ministry said that wives of Russian soldiers from the Eastern Military District's 36th Combined Arms Army had pleaded to local leaders for their husbands' return from duty in Ukraine. The UK MoD said that the lack of breaks from combat conditions has been one of the most damaging of the many personal issues faced by the Russian Ministry of Defence which is working to rectify it among the deployed forces. It further stated that the Ukrainian armed forces continue to put pressure on the Russian defensive line in North East Kherson oblast without succeeding in making territorial gain. 

"In late June, a Russian-language media agency based in Russia’s far eastern Lake Baikal region uploaded a video in which the wives of soldiers from the Eastern Military District’s (EMD’s) 36th Combined Arms Army directly appealed to a local politician for their husbands to be returned home from service in Ukraine," the UK Defence Ministry said in the intelligence update. 

Russian forces continue to carry out airstrikes: Zelenskyy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Russian forces continue to carry out airstrikes in Ukraine. Zelenskyy, in a video address on Sunday, July 10, said that Russian armed forces have not taken an "operational pause" in Donbas as Moscow's troops carried out 34 airstrikes on Ukraine in the past 24 hours. He emphasised that Russia's airstrikes are the answer to the people who have been talking about the alleged "operational pause." The Ukrainian President said that Ukrainian forces continue to repel attacks conducted by Russian troops. He also spoke about the attack in Chasiv Yar city of the Donetsk region in which 15 people have lost their lives and added that the number is not final. Zelenskyy said that a rescue operation is being carried out after the Russian strike at residential buildings in which two high-rise buildings have been destroyed and dozens of people continue to be trapped under the rubble. 

"In the past week, many talked about the alleged "operational pause" in the actions of the occupiers in Donbas and other parts of Ukraine. 34 airstrikes by Russian aircraft over the past day is an answer to all those who came up with this pause," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in the video address. 

(Image: AP)