These images purport to show Russian forces destroying Ukrainian military positions and armoured vehicles with modern precision-guided munition.
In the footage, Russian soldiers appear to be blowing up a tree line that was allegedly a Ukrainian stronghold.
Later, the video shows an alleged Ukrainian armoured vehicle being struck fire by a new-generation precision-guided munition.
The footage was obtained by Newsflash from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on 4th January, along with a statement: “The precision-guided munitions used have high efficiency and precision.
“In the video, one high-precision munition of a new generation is guaranteed to destroy the stronghold of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with an accurate hit, and the armoured vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine are also destroyed with an accurate hit.”
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 315th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 4th January, Russia had lost about 108,910 personnel, 3,038 tanks, 6,106 armoured combat vehicles, 2,039 artillery units, 424 multiple launch rocket systems, 214 air defence systems, 283 warplanes, 270 helicopters, 1,842 drones, 723 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,745 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 181 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
The Russian Ministry of Defence said four Ukrainian missiles hit temporary Russian barracks in a vocational college in Makiivka, in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
The ministry acknowledged the attack on Makiivka by Ukraine’s forces killed 89 servicemen and blamed the high death toll on its soldiers’ illegal use of mobile phones.
“This factor allowed the enemy to track and determine the coordinates of the soldiers’ location for a missile strike,” said the Ministry in a statement on Wednesday.
Ukrainian officials claimed the death toll is much higher, with around 400 mobilised Russian soldiers allegedly being killed and about 300 more being wounded.
A Russian missile attack destroyed an ice arena in Druzhkivka, Donetsk region, according to reports from Ukraine’s ice hockey federation.
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned Russia is set to launch a major offensive to “try to turn the tide of the war and at least delay their defeat.”
Ukraine and the EU will hold a summit on 3rd February to discuss financial and military support, President Zelenskiy’s office said.
The US president, Joe Biden, will meet with Japan’s prime minister, Fumio Kishida, at the White House on 13th January to discuss “a range of regional and global issues, including the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s unlawful weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile programmes, Russia’s brutal war against Ukraine, and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.”
