20,000 Russians killed in Ukraine war since December, US says

The new figures suggest that Russian losses have dramatically accelerated in recent months.

Ukrainian troops in the Donetsk region (Libkos/AP)

The White House said it now estimates that just since December Russia has suffered 100,000 casualties, including 20,000 killed, as Ukraine has rebuffed a heavy assault by Russian forces in the east of the country.

In what has become a grinding war of attrition, the fiercest battles have been in the eastern Donetsk region, where Russia is struggling to encircle the city of Bakhmut in the face of dogged Ukrainian defence.