According to the most recent reports from Ukraine, another high-ranking Russian army commander has been slain as Vladimir Putin’s invasion enters its 50th day.

Lieutenant Colonel Denis Mezhuev, commander of the 1st Guards Motor Rifle Sevastopol Red Banner unit, is the 40th Russian commander to die in Ukraine, in a war that has taken a disproportionate toll on the Russian officer class.

Officers account for one in every five casualties in Russia, a much greater proportion than would be expected in a contemporary military campaign.

While the Kremlin has yet to publicly recognise Mezhuev’s death, Russian poet Andrey Kovalev, a staunch Putin admirer, has urged for Mezhuev to be granted a posthumous medal for his sacrifice.

Confirmed Russian loss counts are difficult to come by, although Ukraine claims to have killed 20,000 Russian forces on the battlefield.

Russia has not provided any official numbers in several days.

After being forced out of Kyiv, Russian forces are already regrouping in eastern Ukraine, and Moscow is apparently preparing a large wave of reinforcements to overwhelm Ukrainian defences.

“I would expect that, at outside estimations, what you’re looking at is a force that is probably the Russians aiming to double or possibly triple the number of force that they bring into that Donbas area,” one NATO officer told reporters on Monday.

“But I would note that that is going to take some considerable time to bring them up to that sort of number.”