Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy examines the site of a recent battle in Bucha
(Picture: AP)Russian forces have lost so many men in Ukraine their soldiers will have to be psychologically rebuilt before launching another major attack, Western officials said on Wednesday.
It is believed the threat to the capital Kiev is “limited for the foreseeable future” while Vladimir Putin's army regroups.
The reorganisation could take "several weeks" following the heavy loses suffered by Russia, Western intelligence suggests.
A month after Putin launched his invasion, a quarter of battalions are believed to be out of action following heavy fighting.
“You've got a force which psychologically has been on combat operations for a month, some pretty high tempo combat operations, which has involved an awful lot of loss of life and loss of military materials,” a Western official said.
“So not only would you have to rebuild the force in material terms, you've also got to get it back up psychologically, in order to be able to mount these sorts of operations.
“I think the threat posed to Kiev is limited for the foreseeable future. But of course, what we wouldn't like to see is, is that assumption meaning that Kiev or the areas to north were left undefended, because there still remains a risk of kind of opportunistic activity."
Western intelligence officials estimate 29 Russian battalions have been "rendered non combat effective" and have been "taken out of the line in order to be refurbished and reconstituted".
It comes amid fears Putin’s army is deliberately inflicting a humanitarian disaster in Ukraine as the invasion continues to stall in a bid to force the Ukrainians to surrender.
Russia still has the threat of missile strikes, Western officials said.
They added: "The threat posed to Kiev isn't necessarily just by by ground forces, but there remains the risk of missile and air strikes, and in the context of trying to coerce the Ukrainian leadership or the Ukrainian population in order to influence whatever the outcome of these operations may be, that will remain a tool the Russians may still wish to use."
The devestation in the besieged city of Mariupol is similar to that seen in Nazi concentration camps, the city’s mayor said on Wednesday.
Bombardment has turned the area “into a death camp”, Vadym Boychenko said, as communication links have been destroyed while food and water supplies are unable to get through.
Russian forces are using mobile crematoriums to erase the evidence of war crimes, according to Mariupol City Council.
It comes as the horrors of executions, torture and rape were revealed in Bucha, near Kiev.
Ukrainian officials have said the bodies of at least 410 civilians have been discovered in Bucha and other towns around the capital recaptured from the Russians as their forces pull back.
Boris Johnson said the actions of Russian forces in Ukraine appear close to “genocide”.
Speaking during a visit to a hospital in Welwyn Garden City, the Prime Minister said the latest disclosures underline the need for the international community to tighten the economic pressure on the Kremlin.
“I’m afraid, when you look at what’s happening in Bucha, the revelations that we are seeing from what Putin has done in Ukraine doesn’t look far short of genocide to me,” Mr Johnson said.
“It is no wonder people are responding in the way that they are. I have no doubt that the international community, Britain very much in the front rank, will be moving again in lockstep to impose more sanctions and more penalties on Vladimir Putin’s regime.”
