More than 70,000 people fighting in Russia’s military have now died in Ukraine, according to data analysed by the BBC. And for the first time, volunteers - civilians who joined the armed forces after the start of the war - now make up the highest number of people killed on the battlefield since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022.

Moscow’s troops have retaken a few villages in a border area that Kyiv’s forces invaded last month and are also advancing steadily in eastern Ukraine.

The high losses on both sides are posing problems on the battlefield and accelerating demographic fears.