Russia has reported 672 coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours, according to a government tally, setting a pandemic high of fatalities for the third day in a row.
The country is battling a surging outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant and worsened by a lagging jab drive, with President Vladimir Putin urging Russians on national television to get vaccinated.
The daily death toll released on Thursday topped Wednesday's record of 669 and Tuesday's of 652.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin has said that the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, accounts for 90 per cent of cases in the Russian capital.
