This footage shows pro-Russian DPR fighters apparently firing at a fortified Ukrainian position on the frontlines in Donetsk using a self-propelled howitzer.
The images allegedly show a 2S1 Gvozdika self-propelled howitzer belonging to the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) firing at a Ukrainian position between a field and a treeline in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
The images appear to show DPR soldiers firing shells from the piece of artillery, with the footage then cutting to what appears to be a fortified Ukrainian position on the frontlines reportedly being hit.
The footage was obtained from the People’s Militia of the pro-Russian, so-called (DPR) on Tuesday, 1st November, along with a statement saying: “The artillerymen of the 1st Slavic Brigade destroy the enemy.
“Barrel artillery of the 1st Slavic Guards Brigade supports the infantry with fire in the direction of the Opytne and Vodiane settlements. Two main strongholds of the Armed Forces [of Ukraine] were destroyed by the accurate fire of barrel artillery guns.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage. Opytne, in the Yasynuvata Raion, and Vodiane, in the Mariupol district, are villages in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 252nd day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 2nd November, Russia had lost about 73,270 personnel, 2,714 tanks, 5,525 armoured combat vehicles, 1,733 artillery units, 387 multiple launch rocket systems, 198 air defence systems, 277 warplanes, 258 helicopters, 1,438 drones, 397 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,153 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 154 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukrainian military intelligence said on Tuesday that Iran is planning to send over 200 combat drones to Russian forces sometime in early November, including a new model, the Arash-2.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko is making preparations to open approximately 1,000 public heating points to city residents.
This comes after Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, met with Kadri Simson, the European Union Commissioner for Energy, and said that Russian missile and drone strikes have “seriously damaged” about 40 per cent of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Ukraine has been forced to cease electricity exports to Europe as a result.
Zelensky said that a long-term defence plan is required for Ukraine’s grain export corridor and that any attempt by Russia to disrupt it must be met with a firm response, after Moscow pulled out of the UN-brokered deal.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has said that the Russian authorities in the occupied part of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine have moved their administration further south to Skadovsk, a port city on the Black Sea, ahead of an anticipated push south by Ukrainian forces to retake the city of Kherson.
Civilians in an area along the eastern bank of the Dnieper River were reportedly told to leave by Russian officials on Tuesday. This represents a significant extension of an evacuation order for the area that Ukraine says is a forced depopulation of the occupied territory.
The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom has said that Yevgeny Prigozhin, the owner of the Russian Wagner Group private military company stated on 23rd October that Wagner forces were “making advances of 100-200m per day”.
Prigozhin reportedly claimed this was “normal in modern warfare”.
But the UK MoD said Russian forces “plan to advance 30km or more per day in most conditions”, adding: “In February, Russian forces planned to make a 1000km advance through Ukraine within a month. In September, Ukrainian forces achieved advances of over 20km per day.
“In the last two months, Prigozhin has abandoned any pretence that he is not associated with Wagner and has been more explicit in his public statements. He is likely trying to burnish his credibility within the stressed Russian national security system.”
