KYIV, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Ukraine said on Tuesday the last 24 hours were the deadliest of the war so far for Russian troops, as Moscow hurls tens of thousands of freshly mobilised soldiers and mercenaries into relentless winter assaults in the east.

The report of enemy dead could not be independently confirmed, and Moscow denies its forces have suffered losses on such a scale while also claiming to have killed huge numbers of Ukrainians.

After failing to capture Kyiv last year and losing ground through the second half of 2022, Moscow is now making full use of hundreds of thousands of troops called up over the past few months in its first mobilisation since World War Two.

Kyiv and the West say Russia has been pouring additional troops into eastern Ukraine in recent weeks in hopes of being able to claim new gains around the time of the first anniversary of its full-scale invasion later this month.

In a daily intelligence update, Britain's Defence Ministry said Russia's military had been attempting since early January to restart major offensive operations to capture Ukraine-held parts of Donetsk region, but had gained little ground so far.

Additional reporting by Max Hunder, Ron Popeski, Nick Starkov and Lidia Kelly; Writing by Costas Pitas and Michael Perry; editing by Simon Cameron-Moore and Andrew Cawthorne