内容摘要：After two weeks, Ukraine's top commander claimed to control more than 1,200 sq km of Russian territory and 93 villages but Russia has since reclaimed much of that territory.

After two weeks, Ukraine's top commander claimed to control more than 1,200 sq km of Russian territory and 93 villages but Russia has since reclaimed much of that territory.

The hotel has been shut for a decade, and after attempts to find the owner, the local council has applied for the 19th Century hotel to be knocked down as parts have already collapsed.The run-down Corbett Arms, which dates back to the early 1800s, is now a far cry from being the landmark hotel which attracted stars like Lennon and Ono.

The Beatles were on a break during the recording of what would become Abbey Road - which includes songs like Come Together, Something and Here Comes The Sun - when Lennon visited north Wales.It was just months after his marriage to Ono in March 1969 and the singer wanted to show his new wife special places that meant a lot to him.They arrived on the north-west Wales coast as The Beatles song about them, The Ballad of John and Yoko, was number one - the 17th time they had topped the UK singles charts.

Their visit to Tywyn was also between the recording of Lennon's first solo single Give Peace a Chance, which the pair recorded three weeks earlier in their second week-long anti-war bed-in in Montreal, and its release.The Corbett Hotel's odd-job boy Alan Finlay, then 13, greeted the superstars as they arrived.

"Dad would tell us about this real fancy car pulling outside the hotel and John Lennon got out," remembered daughter Gaby, 26.

"He was a huge music fan and was like 'oh my god', he couldn't believe it.We also class as volunteers those who signed up to avoid criminal prosecution, which was allowed by law in 2024.

Volunteers have become the fastest-growing category of casualties in our calculations, making up a quarter of those we have identified.In 2023-2024, thousands of volunteers who signed contracts with the Ministry of Defence were sent to the front lines only 10–14 days later. Such minimal training will have dramatically reduced their chances of survival, experts say.

One Russian republic, Bashkortostan, has seen the highest numbers of casualties, with 4,836 confirmed deaths. Most were from rural areas and 38% had gone to fight with no military experience.The one-time payment for signing a Russian army contract in Ufa is 34 times the region's average salary of 67,575 rubles (£600).