The British Ministry of Defense said in an intelligence update on the war in Ukraine that recruitment from Russian prisons has decreased since late last year.

"Data from the Russian Federal Penal Service had already suggested a drop-off in the rate of prisoner recruitment since December 2022," it said.

"News of the harsh realities of Wagner service in Ukraine has probably filtered through to inmates and reduced the number of volunteers," the ministry surmised.

The head of Russia's Wagner mercenary group, Yegveny Prigozhin, announced on Thursday that the group had ended its prison recruitment scheme. The UK Defense Ministry said that this may have been caused by "direct rivalry between the Russian Ministry of Defence and Wagner." 

"The regular Russian military has likely now also deployed the vast majority of the reservists called up under 'partial mobilization,'" the ministry said.

"The Russian leadership faces the difficult choice of either continuing to deplete its forces, scale back objectives, or conduct a further form of mobilization," the ministry said. On Friday, Prigozhin advocated for a clarification of Russian war aims in an interview for a Russian military correspondent.

Here are some of the other notable developments concerning the war in Ukraine on Saturday, February 11.

Poland's Duda says decision on sending fighters jets has to be taken jointly

Polish President Andrzej Duda told the BBC that sending fighter jets to Ukraine would be a "very serious decision."

Duda's comments come after having spoken to Zelenksyy earlier this week, where the Ukrainian leader appealed for jets during a whirlwind European tour.

Duda told the BBC that Poland will not go it alone and any decision about sending F-16 aircrafts would have to be taken jointly by NATO allies. Poland is a NATO member state.

The Polish leader has been at the forefront of pushing other allies to supply tanks to Kyiv in recent weeks.

Zelenskyy dismisses top official

Zelenskyy issued a decree dismissing the deputy commander of the National Guard. The decree, published on the president's website, does not provide a reason for the move.

Ukrainian authorities have lately dimissed several officials in an attempt to root out corruption from the government and Zelenskyy has promised to continue doing so.

The EU maintains that Ukraine would have to tackle corruption head-on before it can be a member of the bloc.

Wagner chief Prigozhin says Russia could need up to 2 years to take Donbas

The head of the Russian Wagner mercenary group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, has said that Russia could need anywhere between a year and a half and 2 years to take full control of the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk that make up the Donbas.

"As far as I understand, we need to close off the Donetsk and Luhansk republics and in principle that will suit everyone for now," Prigozhin said.

"If we have to get to the Dnipro, then it will take about three years," he added, referring to the river that runs through the southeastern Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions, which Moscow claims to have annexed.

Prigozhin said that Russian forces faced fierce resistance in the city of Bakhmut in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk.

He also said that Moscow must establish clear war aims in Ukraine and decide whether to more firmly entrench itself in the country's east or continue pushing westward.

"Bakhmut is needed so our troops can operate comfortably," Prigozhin said. "Why is it called the meat grinder? Because the Ukrainian army is sending more and more and more units."

"It is probably too early to say that we are close," he said. "There are many roads out and fewer roads in. Ukrainian troops are well trained ... and like any large city it is impossible to capture it from head-on. We are managing very well."

Moody's downgrades Ukraine's credit rating

The Moody's credit rating firm has downgraded Ukraine's rating from Ca to Caa3, which suggests a near-default state.

The change is "driven by the effects of the war with Russia that are likely to pose long-lasting challenges to Ukraine's economy and public finances," Moody's Investors Service said.

"These challenges increase risks to government debt sustainability, making a debt restructuring with significant losses for private-sector creditors very likely."

The company said that the war will likely cause lasting damage to the productive capacity of key economic sectors.

More on the war in Ukraine on dw.com

Former US top general Ben Hodges argued in an interview for DW that Ukraine could acheive a swift victory if supplied with fighter jets by the West.

DW takes a look into whether Russian President Vladimir Putin will pardon prisoners recruited to fight in Ukraine by the Wagner Group.

Former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters drew criticism for comments made to the UN Security Council, in which he argued that Russia's invasion was "not unprovoked."

Western energy companies are making record profits amid a rise in energy prices triggered in part by the war in Ukraine.

rm, sdi/kb (AFP, Reuters)