Russia has lost more than 2,030 troops in just the past day on the frontlines of Ukraine, Kyiv officials have claimed – a figure that if true represents a record daily high in the near-three-year-long war. 

Ukraine’s General Staff shared the estimated losses for Russia’s forces in its routine battlefield update this morning, adding that more than 300 weapons and military equipment were also destroyed – though the figures cannot be independently verified.

Moscow’s shocking losses come as Vladimir Putin‘s army seeks to seize as much territory as possible ahead of Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House, with both sides expecting Washington to push for ceasefire talks early next year.

Although their ranks are suffering heavy casualties, the Russian army is advancing westward in Ukraine at a rate faster than any other time after the initial days of the 2022 invasion, taking an area half the size of London over the past month.

Putin’s troops swept through swathes of Ukraine in early 2022 and were bearing down on Kyiv in a matter of days, but they were held on the outskirts of the capital before being pushed back and retreating further east.