Russia 'loses battalion’s worth of armoured vehicles each day’

Out of action: Russian tanks damaged in recent fighting are seen near the retaken village of Kamianka in Kharkiv region, Ukraine

- Michael Howie

VLADIMIR PUTIN'S forces have been losing a battalion's worth of armoured vehicles every day in the face of Ukrainian offensives, according to UK defence chiefs.

They also say Russian soldiers are being forced to serve in ageing infantry combat vehicles which the troops describe as "aluminium cans".

The intelligence assessment comes as fresh Russian attacks were reported across large parts of Ukraine today.

Heavy shelling damaged power supplies to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, once disconnecting the facility - the largest of its kind in Europe from the grid.

Russian strikes were also reported in Kriviy Rih, in central Ukraine, and in Sumy and Kharkiv, in the northeast.

Heavy fighting was ongoing in the eastern regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.