Over the past 24 hours, Russian forces have eliminated 270 Ukrainian servicemen and shot down 93 drones and a guided aerial bomb, the Russian defence ministry said today.

In a statement, the ministry said its forces had targeted Ukrainian personnel and strategic military positions, including airfields and weapons depots at more than 142 locations in the Donetsk, Kharkiv and Zaporizhia provinces.

Reports from Russia and Ukraine on the conduct of the military operation, which began on 24 February, continue to diverge in the presentation of on-the-ground data.