Russia hit by deadliest day of war in Ukraine

Russia hit by deadliest day of war in Ukraine

Russia has suffered its the deadliest day of war so far with Vladimir Putin’s force reaching a daily high of a 1,770 death toll, Kyiv has reported.

Putin's forces have lost 710,660 soldiers since the beginning of Russia’s invasion in February 2021, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said today.

Meanwhile, the Russian president was reported to have amassed 40,000 of his soldiers and 10,000 North Koreans in a bid to attack Kursk.

It came as the Kremlin denied media reports that US President-elect Donald Trump held a call with Vladimir Putin, in which he is said to have warned the Russian president against escalating the war in Ukraine.

The call, which was first reported by the Washington Post on Sunday, is said to have happened on Thursday, with Trump also reported to have mentioned America’s extensive military presence in Europe to the Russian President.

A Kremlin spokesperson insisted the reports were “pure fiction”, while Trump’s team told the BBC that it would not comment on the president-elect’s “private calls”.

It came as Russian glide bombs, drones and a ballistic missile hit cities in southern and eastern Ukraine on Monday, officials said, killing at least six civilians and injuring about 30 others.

Russia recently intensified strikes that have long tormented civilian areas, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in an apparent attempt to wear down their willingness to keep up the  war.

"Every day, every night, Russia commits the same terror," Mr Zelensky said in a post on the Telegram messaging app. "Except that an increasing number of civilian objects are becoming targets."

Both Russia and Ukraine are waiting to see how Washington will change its policy on the war after Donald Trump takes office in January.

The US is the biggest provider of military help to Ukraine but Trump has criticised the Biden administration for giving Kyiv tens of billions of dollars of aid.

The major cities hit on Monday by Russia are close to the war's frontline, around 600-mile front line.

Russian drones hit the southern city of Mykolaiv, killing five people and injuring a 45-year-old woman, local authorities said.

A fire is seen after a Russian attack on residential area in Mykolaiv, Ukraine (AP)
A fire is seen after a Russian attack on residential area in Mykolaiv, Ukraine (AP)

Around two dozen people sought psychological help following the attack that damaged houses and stores, officials said.

Mykolaiv, located about 37 miles northwest of the front line in the Kherson region, frequently comes under Russian attack.

An overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia, also in the south, with three powerful glide bombs killed one person and injured 21, including a 4-year-old boy.

The strikes partially destroyed a two-story apartment building and damaged a dormitory.

Firefighters work on a site of a Russian attack on residential area in Mykolaiv (AP)
Firefighters work on a site of a Russian attack on residential area in Mykolaiv (AP)

A five-story apartment building in Kryvyi Rih, Zelenskyy's hometown in central Ukraine, was hit by a Russian ballistic missile, injuring at least eight people.

Emergency services were searching through the rubble, Oleksandr Vikul, head of Kryviy Rih Military Administration said.

The missile destroyed all five stories in one part of the building, he said.

Meanwhile, Ukraine's intelligence agency claimed it destroyed a Russian Mi-24 assault helicopter parked at the Klin-5 airfield in the Moscow region.

The Russian Defence Ministry said on Monday that 17 Ukrainian drones were destroyed over the Russian regions of Kursk, Belgorod and Voronezh overnight and in the morning.