Russia will suspend test-firing rocket engines at one of its design bureaus in the city of Voronezh until the end of the month to conserve oxygen supplies for Covid-19 patients, a top space official has said.

Russia, which is grappling with a surge of Covid-19 cases, on Saturday registered the most coronavirus-related deaths it has recorded in a single day since the pandemic began.

The Kremlin blames the high toll on the slow progress of the national vaccination campaign. Officials reported 962 Covid-19 deaths on Sunday and more than 28,600 new cases.