Ukrainian officials say their army is running out of ammunition as it engages in intense artillery battles with invading Russian forces.

Vitaly Kim, the governor of the Mykolaiv region on the southern frontline, said the fighting had become a "war of artillery". He added that the Russian army was much more powerful, while Ukraine's troops were running low on shells, AFP news agency reports.

He urged Western allies to speed up their delivery of long range weapons and ammunition to help Ukraine strike back.

"The help of Europe and America is very, very important," Kim said.

Ukraine's deputy head of military intelligence, Vadym Skibitsky, made similar comments in an interview with Britain's Guardian newspaper on Friday.

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Image source, ITAR - TASS NEWS AGENCY

The Foreign Office has issued a statement on behalf of the family of Shaun Pinner, one of the two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces in Ukraine.

“Firstly, our whole family is devastated and saddened at the outcome of the illegal show-trial by the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic," the statement reads.

"As a Ukrainian resident for over four years and contracted serving Marine in the 36th Brigade, of which he is very proud, Shaun should be accorded all the rights of a prisoner of war according to the Geneva Convention and including full independent legal representation.

“We sincerely hope that all parties will co-operate urgently to ensure the safe release or exchange of Shaun.

"Our family including his son and Ukrainian wife, love and miss him so much and our hearts go out to all the families involved in this awful situation."

Shaun Pinner was a soldier in the British army before he moved to Ukraine in 2018. His wife is Ukrainian and according to his family, Pinner has a three-year contract with the Ukrainian marines that is due to expire at the end of this year.

Pinner's family said he had been planning to then take on a humanitarian role in Ukraine.

More now on the US President's comments that Volodymyr Zelensky "didn't want to hear" American warnings ahead of Russia's invasion of the country.

Now, Zelensky's spokesman has responded to the remarks, saying that Zelensky asked for preventive sanctions against Russia prior to the large-scale invasion but Ukraine's partners "did not want to hear".

Spokesman Sergei Nikiforov said that at that time, Zelensky had three or four telephone conversations with Joe Biden and the leaders exchanged views and assessments of the situation in detail.

"Therefore, the phrase 'did not want to hear' probably needs clarification," he told Ukrainian news outlet LIGA.net.

Another adviser, Mykhailo Podolia, said Ukraine understood that Russia was planning an invasion and was preparing for it - the question was on the scale of the attack.

"It is absurd to accuse a country of resisting the aggressor for more than 100 days, which prevails if key countries have failed to stop Russia as a precaution," he said.

He said that Zelensky was attentive to the warnings, but the scale of Russia's invasion "shocked many countries, including our partners".

Image source, Reuters

Ukraine says about 10,000 of its soldiers have died in the war since Russia’s invasion began at the end of February.

Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych gave the details in a social media interview, when asked how many troops Ukraine had lost in the first 100 days of the war – that is, up to 3 June.

Ukraine says it is losing about 100 soldiers in fighting every day, with hundreds more wounded.

Arestovych said Russia’s losses were several times greater. The Ukrainian government says more than 30,000 Russian troops have died. The estimate by UK intelligence is lower – more than 15,000.

The entire 1979-1989 Afghanistan war cost the Soviet military about 15,000 lives.

The Russian authorities have not given any official figure for their war losses in Ukraine since 25 March, when they said 1,351 soldiers and officers had died.

BBC Russian has confirmed the deaths of 3,502 Russian soldiers – but that covers only those named and buried in cemeteries.

Russia having to resort to old artillery as it runs out of weaponspublished at 12:01 British Summer Time 11 June 2022

12:01 BST 11 June 2022

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

As we've been reporting, Russia is running short of modern weapons and is having to resort to using heavy anti-ship missiles in ground attacks against Ukraine - which are highly inaccurate and can cause significant casualties and collateral damage, the UK's defence ministry says.

We saw a few weeks ago during Russia's strikes on the southern city of Odesa they were using old soviet stock.

The analysis we're getting is that it's symptomatic of the Russians running out of weapons.

They've used up their more modern cruise missiles, they've used their more high-tech precision weaponry, so they're having to dig deep into the arsenals to find out what they have lying around.

I'm sure some Russians would dispute that - they'd say there are some tactical reasons for doing this, but it's quite likely, especially given the sanctions Russia is under, that a lot of its weaponry requires modern western technology imports to make new stocks.

So once they've used them all, given the sanctions they're under, maybe they have to resort to use old equipment.

Ukraine is doing everything possible to save three foreign nationals who were sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court for fighting for Ukraine, a lawmaker in Ukraine's parliamentary security and defence committee said.

Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim, were captured fighting with the Ukrainian army and tried as mercenaries.

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk said she believed the separatist authorities would ultimately act rationally, "for they are well aware of the irreparable implications for them and for the Russians if they take any wrong steps against these three of our soldiers".

"Something tells me that, eventually, one way or another, sooner or later, these three servicemen will be exchanged (or otherwise get home)," she said in an online post.

Image source, ITAR - TASS NEWS AGENCY

Two Britons sentenced to death for fighting Russian forces in Ukraine have experienced "monstrous flouting" of their human rights and "complete contraventions of all the rules set up under the Geneva conventions for treatment of prisoners of war," according to a Conservative MP.

Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner were captured fighting with the Ukrainian army and tried as mercenaries by a Russian proxy court.

Richard Fuller, the local MP for Pinner's family, says a trial has taken place without independent legal advice for either men.

The most concerning aspect, Fuller says, is that there's been "no evidence that Shaun or Aiden have been able to meet with representatives from the International Red Cross", which he says is usually the case in most conflict situations.

He said that for weeks the families of both men have been receiving messages "directed from those holding them", looking for a prisoner of war exchange.

"Then very suddenly, a few days ago, those holding them changed the rules and broke international law and held a show trial," Fuller told the BBC.

He said the human rights ombudsman in the area of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic needs to ensure the men are given their rights under international law.

More now on European Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen's visit to Kyiv where she'll meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for talks on Ukraine's bid to join the EU.

She said the discussions "will feed into our assessment" of Ukraine's readiness to be considered a candidate country to begin lengthy negotiations, including needed reforms.

She told reporters that the assesment by her commission will be presented "soon", the AFP news agency reports.

EU commissioners and officials are expected to look at Ukraine's bid next week, ahead of a summit on 23-24 June that will likely take up the matter.

Von der Leyen's trip to Kyiv was her second since Russia's invasion, her last one on 8 April was to hand Zelensky a questionnaire his officials needed to fill out to provide details that would help inform the European Commission's opinion it has to give to the European Council, representing the EU's 27 member states.

On that visit, von der Leyen said "Ukraine belongs to the European family", however, some EU countries have expressed wariness about giving Ukraine a speeded-up candidacy process.

The president of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen is visiting Ukraine to discuss its proposal to join the European Union.

Von der Leyen said she and President Volodymyr Zelensky would discuss Ukraine's reconstruction and progress towards EU membership.

"With President Zelensky I will take stock of the joint work needed for reconstruction and of the progress made by Ukraine on its European path," she said on Twitter.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the outcome of the war in his country affected not just Ukraine, but the future of international order.

"It is on the battlefields of Ukraine that the future rules of this world are being decided," he said.

Speaking via video link at an Asian security summit in Singapore, (the Shangri-La Dialogue), he said his country is seeking to push the Russians out of areas it has controlled since early in the war.

He added Ukrainian forces are also defending against ferocious Russian attacks in the country's east, particularly around the city of Severodonetsk.

Noting the support so far from the West and its Asian allies, Zelensky said it was crucial that the nations sending aid do not let up.

He also said that Russia is blocking ports in the Black Sea and Azov Sea, keeping Ukrainian food exports from the world market, adding if “we are unable to export our foodstuffs, the world will face an acute and severe food crisis and famine in many countries in Asia and Africa".

Image source, Reuters

US President Joe Biden has said that his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky "didn't want to hear" American warnings ahead of Russia's invasion of his country.

"I know a lot of people thought I was exaggerating," Biden said at a fundraiser yesterday, referring to his forewarning of the possibility of a Russian attack.

"But I knew we had data to sustain (the assessment)," he said, adding that there was no doubt that Russian President Vladimir Putin was going to "go into the border" and "Zelensky didn't want to hear it, nor did a lot of people".

"I understand why they didn't want to hear it, but he went in."

The US began raising the alarm over Russia's preparations for an invasion of Ukraine well before Putin announced the "special operation" against the country on 24 February.

The warnings were met with disbelief and even veiled criticism from some European allies, who at the time felt the US was being too alarmist.

The Ukrainian port city of Mariupol is at risk of a major cholera outbreak, the UK defence ministry says.

Much of the city's infrastructure is damaged or destroyed and water has mixed with sewage, according to the UN.

There have been outbreaks of the disease in Mariupol before, and isolated cases have been reported in the past month.

The city's Ukrainian mayor, Vadym Boychenko told BBC Ukrainian that "cholera, dysentery and other infectious diseases are already in the city", and that the city has been closed off to avoid a larger outbreak.

The claims cannot be verified by the BBC, and the Russian-appointed mayor says regular testing takes place and no cases of cholera have been recorded.

Read more here.

Image source, Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via PA

More now from President Zelensky's address to British university students yesterday, where he said that Ukraine will have a "joint victory" with Britain and Poland when it "wins" the war against Russia, due to the triple alliance formed between the countries.

Zelensky, speaking via video-link, said the Kyiv-Warsaw-London alliance emerged spontaneously and that Ukraine, Poland and the UK were "very close".

"Apart from history, there is the present, in which, since day one, we have had a safe political chemistry with the leaders of these countries, so to speak," Zelensky said, as quoted by the Interfax-Ukraine news agency.

He noted that Polish and British political leaders and peoples had supported Ukraine since the very beginning, with Poland serving as the "main hub" for weapons supplies, and the UK as the "main promoter" of such supplies.

"Great Britain has really been the driver of this process. And I am very grateful. We have built trust. Our army trusts the army of Great Britain. The leaders of our armies communicate. We help each other. We have constant connection with British politicians of different levels," Zelensky said.

He also noted that members of the tripartite alliance were already discussing future security guarantees for Ukraine and the region.

Ukraine wants more artillery for battle in the east, says top officialpublished at 08:42 British Summer Time 11 June 2022

08:42 BST 11 June 2022

Joe Inwood
Reporting from Kyiv

In the east of Ukraine, success on the battlefield is increasingly being decided by the big guns.

Rocket artillery and howitzers – pounding enemy positions from miles behind the front lines.

It is a fight – it seems – that Russia now has a decisive advantage in.

One of Ukraine’s top security officials has told Britain's Guardian newspaper that his side is almost out of ammunition.

Vadym Skibitsky said that the Russians now have ten to fifteen times more artillery than his side – and that the Ukrainians are in urgent need of re-supply.

More has been promised – most notably the high tech HIMAR and M270 systems from the US and UK – precise rocket launchers.

But – they are yet to get to the front lines – and into an increasingly difficult fight.

Intense street to street fighting is ongoing in the key eastern city of Severodonetsk and both Ukrainian and Russian sides are likely suffering high numbers of casualties, the UK’s Ministry of Defence has said in its latest intelligence update.

However, Russian forces have not made advances into the south of city, the MoD says.

It adds that Russia is massing fires with its artillery and air capabilities, in an attempt to overwhelm Ukrainian defences.

The UK MoD says Russia is running short of more precise modern missiles and is resorting to heavy anti-ship missiles against land targets in Ukraine which are primarily designed to destroy aircraft carriers using a nuclear warhead.

When employed in a ground attack role with a conventional warhead they are highly inaccurate and can therefore cause significant collateral damage and civilian casualties.

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Thanks for joining us. We’re resuming our live coverage and will be bringing you the latest developments and analysis of the war in Ukraine throughout the day.

Here's the latest:

• "Intense street to street fighting is ongoing” in Severodonetsk, according to the UK’s Ministry of Defence
• In its morning update the MoD says Russian forces have not made advances into the south of the city, but both sides are likely suffering high numbers of casualties
• Ukraine says the humanitarian conditions in the Russian-occupied city of Mariupol have deteriorated so much there is a risk of epidemics breaking out. The city's Ukrainian mayor, Vadym Boychenko - who has since left Mariupol - says there's already evidence of a cholera outbreak
• The claims cannot be verified by the BBC, and the Russian-appointed mayor says regular testing takes place and no cases of cholera have been recorded
• Boris Johnson has urged ministers to do "everything in their power" to secure the release of two Britons condemned to death for fighting Russian forces
• Three men - Britons Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner, and Moroccan national Saaudun Brahim - were sentenced to death by a Russian proxy court in eastern of Ukraine on Thursday
• And Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken to university students from across the UK over Zoom
• He covered a lot of ground, but said Ukraine would not cede any territory to Russia, and spoke about the plans to rebuild Ukraine in the future

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