These images purport to show Russia launching a new, mysterious satellite into orbit.
The footage shows the rocket coming out of its hangar and slowly moving towards the launchpad.
The footage then cuts to liftoff, which can be seen taking place at night, with the rocket blasting off the launchpad and into the sky.
It can be seen growing ever smaller as it rises faster and faster into the sky before the footage ends.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Sunday, 16th October, along with a statement claiming (in English): “Aerospace Forces successfully launch Angara-1.2 carrier rocket from Plesetsk spaceport.
“In 2 minutes after the launch, the vehicle was taken under control by ground-based facilities.
“The spacecraft received the ordinal number Kosmos-2560.
“The vehicle is in sustainable telemetric contact.”
The Russian MoD had mysteriously said on Saturday, in a statement in Russian, that “the space troops of the Aerospace Forces of Russia successfully launched the ‘Angara-1.2’ light-class launch vehicle, with a spacecraft in the interests of the Russian Ministry of Defence.”
Russian state news agency TASS also reported on the launch, without saying what the rocket’s payload was.
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 236th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 17th October, Russia had lost about 65,320 personnel, 2,537 tanks, 5,205 armoured combat vehicles, 1,599 artillery units, 366 multiple launch rocket systems, 187 air defence systems, 268 warplanes, 242 helicopters, 1,241 drones, 316 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 3,969 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 144 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has said that there is a “very severe” situation in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions of eastern Ukraine, with significant fighting taking place near the town of Bakhmut.
The Ukrainian military has said that Russian missile strikes had hit over 30 towns across Ukraine in the past day alone.
The Ministry of Defence of the United Kingdom has said that Russia is “probably incapable of producing advanced munitions at the rate they are being expended”.
The UK MoD added that missile strikes as seen on 10th October, when Russia fired over 80 missiles, represent a “further degradation of Russia’s long-range missile stocks, which is likely to constrain their ability to strike the volume of targets they desire in future.”
European Union foreign ministers are set to discuss whether Iran has agreed to provide Russia with missiles and attack drones to be used in Ukraine, at a meeting in Luxembourg today, Monday.
The United States and its allies believe that Iran is supplying Russia but the Iranian Foreign Minister, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian, said in a statement “that the Islamic Republic of Iran has not and will not provide any weapon to be used in the war in Ukraine”.
The Ministry of Defence of Belarus has said that nearly 9,000 Russian soldiers will be stationed in the country to protect its borders.
Arup Banerji, the World bank’s regional director for eastern Europe, has said that poverty in Ukraine has increased by a factor of 10 since the beginning of the war.
(T4/ends)
