These images reportedly show mobilised Russian soldiers practising night shooting at a firing range in south-western Russia.
The footage, filmed at night, shows a group of Russian soldiers with assault rifles practising their night shooting skills.
They can be seen shooting at practice targets with assault rifles while lying down on the snow-covered ground.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Monday, 21st November, along with a statement claiming they show “mobilised servicemen improving their night shooting skills at a firing range in the Samara region.”
The Russian MoD also claimed: “The mobilized servicemen at the training ground in the Samara region are improving the coordination of actions and individual training when performing night combat firing from standard weapons as part of squads.
“Servicemen advance to the lines of opening fire, carrying out combat deployment of the squad. During the exercises, they fire at various types of training targets that imitate enemy manpower and equipment at a distance of 100 to 400 metres.
“All activities of the combat training course for the mobilised are planned and are taking into account the experience of a special military operation.
“Training of personnel takes place both in the daytime and at night, under various weather conditions.”
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 271st day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 21st November, Russia had lost about 84,600 personnel, 2,892 tanks, 5,822 armoured combat vehicles, 1,870 artillery units, 393 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defence systems, 278 warplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,537 drones, 480 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,378 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.
Russian forces launched nearly 400 strikes in eastern Ukraine as part of a new artillery offensive on Sunday, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said: “The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high.”
Zelensky added: “In the Luhansk region, we are slowly moving forward while fighting. As of now, there have been almost 400 artillery attacks in the east since the start of the day.”
Russia has reassigned troops that were in Kherson in southern Ukraine to the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, is set on Monday to assess potential damage to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – after renewed shelling.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said that the forces responsible for the shelling were “playing with fire”.
Germany has offered Poland Patriot missile defence systems to help protect its airspace after a missile hit the NATO member last week.
Christine Lambrecht, Germany’s Minister of Defence, said: “We have offered Poland support in securing airspace – with our Eurofighters and with Patriot air defence systems.”
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a key adviser to the Ukrainian president, has said that negotiations with Russia would amount to “capitulation”.
Podolyak labelled Western attempts to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “bizarre” as Ukrainian forces have recently won a number of victories on the battlefield.
He said it would be like saying that the country “that recovers its territories must capitulate to the country that is losing”.
