FIELDS OF DEATH
Putin has lost 500,000 soldiers, 22,000 tanks & vehicles, and nearly 700 aircraft, claims Ukraine
Watch the video above with Sun Man Paul Sims reporting from Ukraine
VLADIMIR Putin's Russia has reached a grim milestone after losing more than 500,000 soldiers in their failing war, claims Ukraine.
Kyiv also said Moscow's crumbling army has also lost some 22,000 tanks and armoured vehicles and nearly 700 aircraft since the invasion.
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The death of Putin's soldiers have faced a grisly uptake since their savage Kharkiv offensive started earlier this month.
With his assault stalling, it has been reported up to 1,100 troops are dying every day in the fighting focused around the north-eastern border between Ukraine and Russia.
The latest figure from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine claims Putin has now lost some 500,080 troops.
And this would mean Russia has seen 609 troops per day blasted since Vlad invaded more than 800 days ago on February 24, 2022.
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His men have become cannon fodder being filed into the meat grinder - but the sheer weight of numbers is putting pressure on Ukraine.
Kyiv continues to call for more arms as they desperately try to hold the line against the Russian advance.
Many of the piles of lifeless bodies are being found after fierce battles in the border towns of Vovchansk, Lyptsi, Pokrovsk and Kupyansk.
A military source said: "Russian forces are bogged down in street fighting in Vovchansk and are being forced into redeploying their reserves from other operational directions to this area.
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"Enemy troops are continuing their assault on wooded areas north of Kupyansk and are trying to breach Ukrainian defences near Kslivka."
Ukrainian commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky added: "The enemy has got completely bogged down in street battles and suffered very high losses in assault units".
President Volodymyr Zelensky's men have also claimed to have destroyed 7,650 Russian tanks and 14,786 armoured combat vehicles since the start of the invasion in 2022.
An additional 10,400 drones have been struck down with the aerial domination of Putin continuing with impressive claims of 326 helicopters and 350 planes all being downed.
Even outside of the battlefield, Ukraine's great success is clear to see with them reporting 27 ships and boats and one submarine have all been successfully targeted and sunk.
The latest figures also don't account for the humiliating “tens of thousands” of soldiers who have deserted Putin's armed forces, it is believed.
Major blow to Putin as 1,200 Russians killed in just 24 hours in bloody battle for Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv
Last month, British intelligence published their own Russian war losses stating that just 450,000 soldiers had been killed.
The huge increase since then is thought to be due to the Russian advance into Kharkiv that saw thousands of Moscow's troops storm the border on May 10.
Despite making their biggest territorial gains in 18 months the Russian death toll has risen sharply as the Ukrainian defence continues to strengthen.
President Zelensky said: "The Ukrainian defence forces have stopped Russian troops in the Kharkiv sector.
"The situation is under control, counter-offensive actions are under way."
The World Health Organisation says 14,000 people have so far been evacuated from Kharkiv amid the daily bombardment of Russian rockets.
Ukraine's numbers do differ from what UK intelligence found last month with the number of drones lost at over 10,000 more.
Since Russia launched its failed invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and vowed to seize the country in a matter of days.
But more than two years later the fighting is continuing amid small gains and devastating losses for sabre-rattling Putin.
With Putin now reportedly ready to offer Ukraine a ceasefire opportunity but only if Kyiv gives up all the territory stolen by Russia.
The despot is considering a pause in the fighting that recognises the current battlefield lines, sources close to his inner circle claim.
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One said: "Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire to freeze the war."
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov has previously admitted his boss is open to a dialogue with Ukraine and the West to achieve its goals.
Saying Russia wasn't looking for an eternal war.
But the recent appointment of Andrei Belousov as Russia's defence minister was seen by some experts as placing Russia on a permanent war footing in order to prolong conflict through their economy.
Europe's biggest ground conflict since World War Two has cost tens of thousands of lives on both sides and led to sweeping Western sanctions on Russia's economy.
Putin understood any dramatic new advances would require another nationwide mobilisation, which he didn't want, the sources said.
The prospect of a ceasefire, or even peace talks, currently seems remote.
Zelensky has repeatedly said peace on Putin's terms is a non-starter.
Putin's 'ceasefire' plot in Ukraine
RUSSIAN tyrant Vladimir Putin is reportedly prepared to end the war in Ukraine - if Kyiv agrees to give up all of its territory stolen by his bloodthirsty forces over the years.
He is considering the so-called "ceasefire" deal, sources close to his inner circle have said, as an end to the meatgrinder frontline fighting.
The warmonger president was reportedly frustrated at Western efforts to axe the plot - and Ukrainian leader Zelensky's decision to rule out talks.
One of the sources close to the Kremlin said: "Putin can fight for as long as it takes, but Putin is also ready for a ceasefire to freeze the war."
The brutal fighting kicked up a notch when Russia opened a fresh front in Ukraine's second-biggest city, Kharkiv.
Brave Ukrainian troops are battling to hold Vlad's armies at bay - and Putin is haemorrhaging soldiers in his battles of attrition.
But the horrific war, having now stretched on for more than two years, shows little sign of ending soon.
He has vowed to retake lost territory, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014. He signed a decree in 2022 that formally declared any talks with Putin "impossible."
One of the sources predicted no agreement could happen while Zelensky was in power, unless Russia bypassed him and struck a deal with Washington.
But, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters he did not believe Putin was interested in serious negotiations.
Ukraine is preparing for talks hosted by Switzerland next month aimed at unifying international opinion on how to end the war.
Despite the talks of peace, Putin has continued to wreck havoc in Europe with his latest targets being the Baltic nations.
A ruthless Vlad is said to be looking to expand Russia's sea borders in a chilling mission to seize an island that can be used as a nuclear launch pad, say ex-Generals.
The Kremlin's latest brazen power move is set to push Nato allies to their limits as Russia looks to taunt the West with military experts warning The Sun it could "trigger WW3".
Europe is on edge after Putin’s defence ministry announced a shock bid to change Russian maritime borders with Finland and Lithuania on Wednesday.
Russia is said to be trying to redraw their territorial waters to steal areas in the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland and near the cities of Baltiysk and Zelenodradsk in the Kaliningrad region.
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But, experts are most concerned over Putin's plans to take over Gotland - an island that sits just off the coast of Sweden .
It is thought to be the next area on Putin's hitlist if he gets his way and is regarded as one of the most important areas in the Baltic Sea.
Putin's invasion in Kharkiv
By Paul Sims
UKRAINE'S second largest city of Kharkiv was blitzed from the air on May 10 as advancing enemy troops were pegged back
They fired missiles, drones and glider bombs towards the border towns of Vovchansk, Lyptsi and beyond.
The relentless daily bombardment from the skies was stepped up as Ukraine's warriors repelled a series of ground offensives.
In a town 15 miles from the frontline, the residents of a quiet residential street were among the latest casualties of Russia's onslaught.
We found Vasyl Lutsenko, 67, at the base of a tree overlooking the charred remains of the home he and wife Olena have shared for the last 24 years.
Their property was hit by an Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drone shortly after 2am and burned to the ground.
It hit their Summer kitchen before the flames spread instantly to the main house and the neighbours next door.
The timber frames were still smouldering as we arrived yesterday amid piles of brickwork and masonry, twisted metal and their charred possessions.
The roof is no more and all that remains of the lives they created here is a wasteland of treasured memories.
Bearded Vasyl manages a smile as he mentions Boris Johnson and says he and Olena, 58, are lucky to be alive. He is already talking about rebuilding.
But it is too much for Olena who suddenly breaks down and shakes her head as a tear rolls down her cheek.
The Lutsenko home is the latest to be struck by the indiscriminate attacks that have increased daily over the last three weeks.
Extraordinary video footage taken by firefighters hours earlier showed their two-bedroom home engulfed by flames.
Vasyl and Olena escaped via their bedroom window after it was blown in by the power of the blast.
Olena was in her slippers but is now wearing a pair of trainers donated by a neighbour.
Vasyl says: "The world needs to understand that we cannot stop Vladimir Putin on our own.
"The whole world needs to end Putin. He won't stop. You will have the war in London and around your home if he is not stopped.
"Today, we have great news. We are alive and I suspect this dumbf*** Putin will be dead soon.
"He's a d***head."
Next door, Oleksii Yakhno, 71, is surveying the devastating damage to the home he and wife Olga, 68, have lived in for the last 51 years.
Oleksii was asleep in a back bedroom and his wife was on a sofa bed in the kitchen when the drone struck.
Olga cried out to her husband to save the family car, a purple 13 series Lada, as the ceilings caved in.
He did as he was told and ran out in his pants, diving into the front seat as the flames tore through the garage.
Tearful Oleksii tells me: "My wife saw the neighbour's summer kitchen hit by the drone.
"It caught fire immediately and my wife told me to go and save our car.
"I went off - even in my underwear - ran into the garage and started the engine.
"Over the last few years I've been saving money so that my daughter's can pay for my funeral when I'm dead, but it's all gone."
His eyes fill with tears as he says: "I don't have any feelings - just that I have lost the roof over my head.
"The home and everything we owned is gone - I just don't know what to do.
"Maybe I would be better off dead. It's very, very bad. What can I do now? I have lived my entire life here."
Local Mayor Ihor Terekhov told The Sun: "People are left with nothing right now. We will definitely help them and do our best to rebuild their lives.
"The Russian aggressor is carrying out crimes every day against the Ukrainian nation."
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