The commander of an “elite” Russian regiment has been killed in Ukraine as units are ground down in key areas of the front line, top war analysts believe.

Vasily Popov, who led the 247th Guards Air Assault (VDV) Regiment which reportedly operated around the Donetsk-Zaporizhzhia border, is thought to have died in combat.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said: “Relatively elite VDV forces are conducting limited counterattacks in critical sectors of the front.

“Popov’s death supports ISW’s assessment that these counterattacks will likely attrit these units further.”

Ukrainian forces launched assaults along the border between Donetsk and Zaporizhia yesterday but have not made any confirmed advances.

Colonel Konstantin Zizevsky, a previous commander of the 247th Guards, was killed in the spring of 2022 in one of the first major scalps claimed by Kyiv.