Almost a thousand Russian troops have been killed in the deadliest day of fighting since the Ukraine war began, according to officials in Kyiv.
Ukraine's General Staff of the Armed Forces made the claim on Monday after revealing 71,200 of Vladimir Putin 's soldiers were estimated have died since the invasion started in February.
A total of 950 of these had been killed on Sunday alone, they said, as Volodymyr Zelensky ’s forces continue to advance on the key southern city of Kherson.
The latest count brought the number of Russian soldiers taken out by Ukrainian forces in October up to 12,730, an average of 400 day.
It came as the UK Ministry of Defence reported that many reservists sent by Moscow from the recent mass mobilisation were suffering from a lack of equipment and preparation for combat.
A tweet on the MoD's official Twitter account @DefenceHQ on Monday said: “ Russia has deployed several thousand newly mobilised reservists to the front line in Ukraine since mid-October. In many cases they are poorly equipped.
“In September, Russian officers were concerned that some recently mobilised reservists were arriving in Ukraine without weapons.”
Open-source images purportedly showed Russian soldiers had been equipped with AKM rifles - an outdated weapon first introduced in 1959.
Many of these were likely given to them in "barely usable condition following poor storage", the ministry added.
It comes after a series of explosions struck Kyiv and other regions of Ukraine yesterday morning as Russian forces restarted missile barrages on civilian areas following recent setbacks.
Smoke could be seen rising above Kyiv after about 10 explosions, witnesses said.
New leaked footage taken back in Russia meanwhile shows a bloody fight between "drunk" Russian soldiers and high-ranking military intelligence officers.
The conscripts are from the 74th Guards Motor Rifle Brigade, based in Yurga, Siberia, who are undergoing training ahead of deployment to the frontline in Ukraine.
The bloody fight indicates the chaotic reality of Vladimir Putin ’s mobilisation drive for the war, as mayhem is seen breaking out among dozens of reservist troops.
Putin’s army intelligence and military police are seen dragging troops away from a bloody brawl.
Some are tied with tape, according to onlookers close to their temporary barracks.
