Russia has what it needs to fight on in Ukraine for at least another year and retains the battlefield initiative, but is struggling to replace its destroyed tanks, experts at a leading security research organisation said on Wednesday.

The Times interviewed Russian soldiers who said they face a brutal fight to dislodge determined Ukrainian forces from a sliver of Russian land. Trapped civilians fear catastrophe.

Ukraine’s military has started to offer one-year contracts with generous bonuses to men under 25, in a bid to fix the country’s manpower deficit as Russian troops continue their advance.

Ukraine has launched a military recruitment campaign targeting 18 to 24-year-olds as army chiefs try to address a manpower crisis on the front lines. Offering a one-year contract with a salary of about $24,