Multiple US media outlets, including The New York Times, say that Russia has lost 315,000 troops, or nearly 90 percent of the personnel it had at the start of its invasion of Ukraine.

The media reports on Tuesday quoted a newly declassified intelligence assessment.

They said Russia had 360,000 service members at the start of the invasion in February last year.

They also said the country initially possessed 3,500 tanks, but has lost 2,200, and that it had to pull T-62 tanks out of storage. The old vehicles were produced more than 50 years ago.

The news organizations quoted the assessment as saying, "As of late November, Russia had lost over a quarter of its pre-2022 stockpile of ground forces equipment."

The assessment also reportedly says, "The war in Ukraine has sharply set back 15 years of Russian effort to modernize its ground force."

Russian forces are believed to have suffered serious losses in fierce battles in the Donetsk region's Avdiivka, eastern Ukraine, and elsewhere. They are hiring contract soldiers to continue fighting.