Hello and welcome to the Friday episode of the Battleground podcast with me Saul David and Patrick Bishop.

It's been a week of mostly depressing news for Ukraine, with only the

occasional shaft of light dispelling the gloom. In a sign that President Zelensky's

government is losing patience with at least some of his military commanders, two cyber chiefs

and the head of the medical forces have been sacked. There are also reports that Iran could soon

send ballistic missiles to Russia,

while frontline Ukrainian soldiers have spoken about the fear that they cannot win a war of exhaustion.

On the other hand, Ukrainian forces have expanded their bridgehead on the eastern,

that's the left bank of the Denepro River in Kersenoblast, to a distance of up to five miles,

as eight kilometers.

And the Russian Ministry of Defense is struggling to subdue what it considers to be a hysterical response

to these gains from nationalist mill bloggers.

Other encouraging signs are the announcement by the German defense minister Boris

Pistorius. The Germany will supply Ukraine with 20,000 much needed 155mm artillery rounds as part of a new

1.1 billion pounds military aid package and a visit to Kiev this week by the American

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin,

who reiterated U.S. support for Ukraine and promised another $100 million worth of military kit,

including artillery munitions, anti-tank, and anti-aircraft weapons. We'll discuss the significance

of all this and where the war might be heading.

But first of all, what about those sacking of senior military chiefs?

Well, the first thing to say is we're not talking about senior battlefield commanders like Zerlugnian Curski.

They seem to be safe for the time being, but Zelensky's government has given the chop to its two top cyber defense officials,

...