Russia has said that it has taken out camouflaged Ukrainian command posts and armoured vehicles using Mi-28 helicopters.
The footage shows one of the Russian attack helicopters being loaded with ordnance before its pilot inspects it and climbs into the cockpit.
The images then reportedly show Russian helicopters spinning up their rotors and taking to the skies from an undisclosed location.
They can then apparently be seen flying low over countryside before unleashing their deadly ordnance at unseen targets.
The footage then purports to show them coming in to land back at base.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday, 4th April, along with a statement claiming: “Crews of Mi-28 ZVO multi-purpose attack helicopters continue to perform combat missions during the special military operation.”
The Russian MoD added: “During the special military operation, the helicopter crews of the army aviation of the Western Military District continue to carry out the tasks of destroying armoured vehicles and military infrastructure of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, escorting military columns, delivering troops, military cargo, air support for units. All flights take place at extremely low altitudes.
“As a result of regular combat missions, camouflaged command posts and armoured vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine units were destroyed.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 405th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 4th April 2023, Russia had lost about 175,690 personnel, 3,627 tanks, 6,999 armoured combat vehicles, 2,697 artillery units, 528 multiple launch rocket systems, 280 air defence systems, 306 warplanes, 291 helicopters, 2,277 drones, 911 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,562 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 298 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that Finland will formally become the 31st member of the world’s largest military alliance today (Tuesday, 4th April).
Stoltenberg said that the last country to ratify Finland’s membership, Turkey, would hand over its official texts to the US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with the NATO Secretary-General then inviting Finland to do likewise.
Russia has reportedly said in response that it will increase its defences near the Finnish border if NATO troops are deployed inside the country.
Mike Pompeo, the former US Secretary of State, visited Ukraine on Monday and said that he will work towards the United States providing Ukraine with F-16 fighter jets and long-range missiles.
Asked if he was in favour of supplying Kyiv with F-16s and long-range missiles, Pompeo reportedly said: “Yes. And the training and the software and all the things needed to actually protect and defend your own land.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is set to visit Poland on Wednesday for talks with his Polish counterpart, President Andrzej Duda.
Poland has reportedly already delivered a first batch of soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets to Kyiv, according to Marcin Przydacz, the Head of Poland’s International Policy Office.
Russian drones have hit the strategic Ukrainian port city of Odesa overnight, with local Ukrainian authorities saying that the city had suffered some “damage”.
Ukrainian officials have said that the Russian side is “very far” from capturing the embattled eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut, where the notorious Russian mercenary organisation Wagner claims to have raised a flag over the city hall.
The Russian police have arrested a woman named as Darya Trepova, suspected of delivering a bomb that killed prominent pro-war Russian military blogger Vladlen Tatarsky, real name Maxim Fomin, in a cafe in central Saint Petersburg on Sunday.
