Report: Russia suffers deadliest day since start of Ukraine invasion

Russia has suffered its deadliest day of the war in Ukraine so far, with 1,770 soldiers killed or wounded in just 24 hours, according to figures released by Kyiv . Vladimir Putin ‘s forces have lost 710,660 troops since the beginning of Russia’s full-scale invasion almost three years ago, the General Staff of Ukraine’s Armed Forces said today.

Despite the heavy losses, Moscow is pushing forward with its ‘meat assaults’ and continues to advance at its fastest rate since 2022, with Ukraine’s armed forces chief admitting this month that it is currently facing ‘one of the most powerful’ Russian offensives since the war broke out. Ukraine’s incursion into Russia’s Kursk region has stalled, and Moscow has reportedly massed a force of 50,000 soldiers as it aims to reclaim the territory taken from it three months ago.

Kyiv said last week its forces had clashed with some of the estimated 11,000 North Korean soldiers sent to the region to support Moscow, with some experts saying their deployment could be partly due to the heavy Russian losses. Volodymyr Zelensky said at the time of the August incursion into Kursk that the taking of Russian territory could serve as a bargaining chip with Moscow.

But, stretched by manpower shortages, Ukrainian forces have lost some of the ground they captured in August incursion, and have continued to lose large swathes of its own territory. The record number of daily Russian losses, which surpasses the previous peak of 1,730 in a day back in May, is broadly in line with estimates from Western countries.

The number of Russian soldiers killed and injured averaged 1,500 ‘every single day’, UK Chief of the Defence Staff Tony Radakin told the BBC on Sunday. Russia is making huge sacrifices in order to secure ‘tiny increments of land,’ Radakin said, but added that it continues to make ‘tactical, territorial gains,’ and is ‘putting pressure on Ukraine’.

The past weekend saw the largest drone attacks by Russia and Ukraine since the war began, with the barrages impacting large swathes of each country and hundreds of drones downed, including in the Moscow region. 

Strikes have intensified amid expectations that US president-elect Donald will put pressure on both sides to end the conflict. He repeatedly said throughout his campaign that he could end the war ‘in a day’, without saying how.

It was reported last night that Donald spoke with Putin in recent days and advised him not to escalate the war. Putin has since denied the reports and added that he has no concrete plans yet to call him. Donald and his supporters have roundly criticised the scale of US military and financial support for Kyiv, and he previously labelled Zelensky ‘the greatest salesman on Earth.’

The US has provided roughly $106 billion in aid directly to the government in Kyiv, a figure which includes military and financial aid as well as humanitarian support, according to the Council on Foreign Relations. After holding what he said was an ‘excellent’ call with Donald late on Wednesday, Zelensky the next day that he was convinced a rapid end to the war would mean Kyiv accepting big concessions.

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