Vladimir Putin's invasion plan for has been stalled by the slaughter of his crack paratroopers in Ukraine, experts claim.
The elite soldiers were a key part of Russia's reported plans to seize the capital Kyiv within 48 hours.
However, Ukrainian forces fiercely resisted the invaders, dashing the Kremlin's hopes of a swift victory.
In the first three weeks of Putin's invasion, some of Russia 's top paratroopers have been killed, including Major General Andrei Sukhovetsky.
Sukhovetsky was shot dead by a sniper near the besieged city of Mariupol on February 28.
Another elite paratrooper, Georgy Dudorov, 23, the son of one of Putin's KGB allies, was also reportedly killed when a Ukrainian artillery strike hit his convoy.
Taras Kuzio, an expert at the Henry Jackson Society security think tank, said dozens of Russian paratroopers were killed in a failed effort to take Hostomel airport.
He told The Sun : "They (the paratroopers) are sent ahead of the main troops to secure a location so that the main forces can be brought up.
"In this war, they were flown into Hostomel airport near Kyiv to do this but were all killed.
"Two transport aircraft of paratroopers flying from Belarus to do the same tactic at another airport near Kyiv were shot out of the sky. 300 paratroopers were killed in the 2-transport aircraft."
The associate research fellow added that the destruction of Putin's paratroopers stalled his invasion plans.
Russian paratroopers also failed in their attack on the town of Voznesensk.
The Kremlin's troops retreated more than 40 miles in the face of stiff Ukrainian resistance.
Around 100 Russian soldiers were killed in the doomed assault, with 10 others captured, local officials said.
Dr Patrick Bury, senior lecturer in security at the University of Bath, thinks Putin's use of paratroopers shows he believed Ukraine would surrender without a fight.
He said the airborne forces were critical to the invasion plan, however he added 'it hasn't worked out for them'.
Last week Russia acknowledged the deaths of five paratrooper 'heroes' in Ukraine.
The overall death toll suffered by Russia in the war remains secret, but more cases of 'heroes' who died in combat are being revealed.
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Four of the five 'heroic' Russian paratroopers killed in combat were named as; Captain Alexander Shokun senior Sergeant Alexander Mikhalev, Sergeant Anton Voronov and Corporal Yevgeny Romanov.
The men were from the 11th Separate Guards Air Assault Brigade.
Another soldier declared by Russia to have lost his life was Roman Filatov.
He was also a paratrooper, according to a statement, serving in the 56th landing assault brigade.
