These images show a day in the life of Ukrainian machine gunners training to fight the Russians on the battlefield.
The images show the gunners using heavy machine guns and large-calibre assault rifles equipped with ammunition belts.
The images were obtained from the 104th Territorial Defence Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for the Rivne region on Thursday, 17th November, along with a statement saying: “A day in the life of machine gunners.
“The fighters of the 104th Brigade of the Territorial Defence of the Rivne region are constantly improving. In particular, knowledge and skills in the use of large-calibre machine guns are polished.”
The images and statement were also relayed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Office of Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 272nd day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 22nd November, Russia had lost about 85,000 personnel, 2,895 tanks, 5,827 armoured combat vehicles, 1,882 artillery units, 395 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defence systems, 278 warplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,537 drones, 480 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,393 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 161 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukraine is evacuating civilians from recaptured areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions amid concern that damage to the local infrastructure is too severe for people to stay during winter.
Local residents have reportedly been advised to relocate to safer and less affected areas in central and western Ukraine.
Both the Kremlin and Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, have accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – with the Ukrainian president appealing to NATO members to ensure that Ukraine’s nuclear power plants are protected from “Russian sabotage”.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Ukraine’s health system is currently “facing its darkest days in the war”.
Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said that half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is currently damaged or destroyed, with 10 million people currently without electricity.
Temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country this winter.
Ukraine’s Prosecutor General has said that they have identified four locations where Russian soldiers tortured prisoners in the city of Kherson.
It said that the Russians had set up “pseudo-law enforcement agencies” in detention centres and a police station before the Russian forces abandon the city.
Russian soldiers have also been accused of burning bodies at a landfill site on the edge of the city.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said that his country has no plans to call up more Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine.
British intelligence has said that Russian forces are currently constructing defensive positions that are staffed by poorly trained reservists near the Svatove area of the Luhansk region of north-eastern Ukraine.
The British Ministry of Defence said that with Russia’s south-western frontline now more defendable on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, the Svatove area is thought to be a more vulnerable flank of the Russian frontline.
Forty-five countries and organisations are set to meet in the French capital Paris on Monday to discuss providing millions in aid to Moldova, as fears increase that Ukraine’s western neighbour could be further destabilised by the ongoing war.
Moldova is reportedly buckling under the effects of rising food and energy prices, combined with the arrival of about 2.5 million refugees in the country as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
