Vladimir Putin has slowed down his Russian offensives in Ukraine, according to the UK.

In its latest update on X, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) said there had been a “decrease in tempo” with Russian operations which has in turn triggered a decline in the casualty rate.

The MoD said Moscow has likely sustained 90,000 casualties – including military personnel who have been wounded or killed – since 2025 began.

The intelligence officials also pointed to reports from the Ukrainian General Staff, which state the average daily Russian casualties during February 2025 was 1,255.

“That’s the lowest daily average since August 2024,” the MoD added.

“The total reported Russian casualties in February 2025 was 35,140, a decrease of around 13,000 from January’s total which was the second highest monthly total of the conflict.”

The UK has previously said Russian army personnel sustained around 429,660 casualties throughout 2024, and more than 790,000 since Putin started the war in 2022.

British prime minister Keir Starmer even used his first speech at the UN last year to condemn Putin for treating his troops like “bits of meat to fling into the grinder”.

In fact, the Kremlin even threatened to send Russian troops mobilised in September 2022 to the “meat grinder” unless they signed military contracts.

“The decrease in the recorded rate of casualties, whilst remaining high, likely reflects a decrease in the tempo of Russian operations and assaults,” the MoD added.

The officials did not say what may be behind this slower pace on the battlefield.

However, they did predict that the casualty rate would be unlikely to decline drastically any time soon.

The MoD said: “Russia’s casualty rate will likely continue to average above 1,000 a day in March 2025, with continued dismounted infantry attacks on multiple axes.”

A senior consulting fellow of Chatham House’s Russia and Eurasia programme, Keir Giles, told HuffPost UK there may be a number of reasons explaining why Putin’s operations have slowed.

“These things rise and fall for objective operational reasons,” he said, pointing to the change of seasons and potential timing.

Giles said the change in pace was unlikely to be related to the recent diplomatic shifts trying to push Ukraine into a peace deal.

He said: “If Russia were sending a signal of intent to entertain peace talks, they would stop sending missiles and drones to kill civilians, which they haven’t.

“So there’s nothing visible at present to suggest that all the lavish US gifts to Moscow will be reciprocated in any way.”

US president Donald Trump has upended western unity since returning to the White House for his second term.

He has signalled that he wants the Ukraine war to end as soon as possible, even if that means Ukraine has to cede its occupied territory to Putin.