The so-called Luhansk People’s Republic has said that its artillery has destroyed an American-made M777 howitzer.
These images purport to show the moment when the pro-Russian Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) destroyed the American-made weapon.
The images were obtained from the People’s Militia of the LPR on Tuesday, 15th November, along with a statement claiming: “Artillerymen of the 2nd AC LPR destroyed an American M777 howitzer.”
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 266th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 16th November, Russia had lost about 82,710 personnel, 2,871 tanks, 5,797 armoured combat vehicles, 1,860 artillery units, 393 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defence systems, 278 warplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,525 drones, 474 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,360 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 160 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Poland’s Foreign Ministry has said in a statement that a “Russian-made missile” hit the Polish village of Przewodow about four miles from the Ukrainian border on Tuesday afternoon, killing two people.
It is the first time that a NATO country has been hit since the war began and came as Russia targeted numerous Ukrainian cities with waves of missile strikes on Tuesday.
The President of Poland, Andrzej Duda, said that it was a “one-off incident” with “no indications” that it would happen again.
Duda said the missile was “most likely” Russian-made but added that “we do not have any conclusive evidence at the moment as to who launched this missile.”
The Polish government has said that it has summoned the Russian Ambassador to Poland to request an explanation.
NATO ministers are preparing to gather on Wednesday at the request of the Polish government under Article 4 of the NATO treaty, which states that all members of the alliance are to be brought together when the “territorial integrity, political independence or security” of any of its members is threatened.
If the incident is revealed to have been deliberate, this could trigger the invocation of Article 5 of the NATO alliance treaty, which states that an attack on one member is considered to be an attack against all members.
The White House has said that it cannot confirm if the missile was Russian, with US President Joe Biden saying on Wednesday that it was unlikely that the missile came from Russia.
Biden said: “There is preliminary information that contests that. I don’t want to say that until we completely investigate it, but it is unlikely in the lines of the trajectory that it was fired from Russia but we’ll see.”
Biden also convened a meeting in Bali with several other G20 leaders, including leaders from NATO members Germany, Canada, the Netherlands, Spain, Italy, France and the United Kingdom, as well as representatives from Japan and the European Union.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the incident marks a “significant escalation” of the war.
Zelensky also said: “All of Europe and the world must be fully protected from terrorist Russia.”
Moscow has denied that it was behind the explosion, with the Russian Ministry of Defence labelling Polish media reports “a deliberate provocation in order to escalate the situation” in a statement.
