Russia reported has 752 coronavirus deaths, a national record of pandemic-related fatalities over a 24-hour period, as the country battles a third wave.

Russia has now set seven new pandemic highs for Covid-19 deaths in the last 12 days as it fights a surging outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant and a sluggish vaccination campaign.

The country's official virus caseload passed 5.75 million on Saturday, making it the fifth worst hit nation worldwide, according to an AFP tally.

As of Saturday, just 18.9 million of Russia's population of some 146 million people had been fully vaccinated, according to the Gogov website, which tallies Covid data from the regions.