These images reportedly show Russian troops training to shoot with tanks during exercises taking place in the Murmansk region in north-western Russia, near the Finnish border.

The footage appears to show Russian tanks opening fire on mock targets on a snow-covered training ground, with other troops firing at targets with assault rifles from defensive positions.

The images then show Russian soldiers firing rockets at practice targets before a mortar is seen being operated at night as the footage ends.

The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday, 22nd November, along with a statement claiming: “Motorised riflemen of the army corps of the Northern Fleet conduct combat coordination of military personnel called up from the reserve.

“In the Murmansk region, at the training grounds of a separate motorised rifle brigade of the army corps of the Northern Fleet, military personnel called up from the reserve are undergoing combat coordination.

“Day and night, motorised rifles as part of squads and crews of combat vehicles train to march to designated areas, practising actions to repel attacks by sabotage and reconnaissance groups, overcoming contaminated terrain and conditionally destroyed sections of roads and bridges.

“Under the guidance of officers and experienced instructors, applying the experience gained during the special military operation, the coordinated actions of military personnel are practised when firing small arms, combat vehicles, guns, mortars and grenade launchers at targets that imitate armoured vehicles, low-flying air targets, as well as manpower the enemy at a distance of 100 to 3000 metres, and the actions of the unit commanders, are evaluated tactically competently to fight.

“At these trainings, servicemen work out the standards for fire, tactical, engineering and special training.

“Particular attention in the course of training is paid to the coordinated actions and professional skills of military personnel in preparing and conducting an offensive and actions in defence, camouflage and reconnaissance.”

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 272nd day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 22nd November, Russia had lost about 85,000 personnel, 2,895 tanks, 5,827 armoured combat vehicles, 1,882 artillery units, 395 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defence systems, 278 warplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,537 drones, 480 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,393 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.

Ukraine is evacuating civilians from recaptured areas of the Kherson and Mykolaiv regions amid concern that damage to the local infrastructure is too severe for people to stay during winter.

Local residents have reportedly been advised to relocate to safer and less affected areas in central and western Ukraine.

Both the Kremlin and Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, have accused each other of shelling the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – with the Ukrainian president appealing to NATO members to ensure that Ukraine’s nuclear power plants are protected from “Russian sabotage”.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that Ukraine’s health system is currently “facing its darkest days in the war”.

Dr Hans Henri P Kluge, the WHO regional director for Europe, said that half of Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is currently damaged or destroyed, with 10 million people currently without electricity.

Temperatures are expected to plummet to as low as minus 20 degrees Celsius in some parts of the country this winter.

Ukraine’s Prosecutor General has said that they have identified four locations where Russian soldiers tortured prisoners in the city of Kherson.

It said that the Russians had set up “pseudo-law enforcement agencies” in detention centres and a police station before the Russian forces abandon the city.

Russian soldiers have also been accused of burning bodies at a landfill site on the edge of the city.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov has said that his country has no plans to call up more Russian soldiers to fight in Ukraine.

British intelligence has said that Russian forces are currently constructing defensive positions that are staffed by poorly trained reservists near the Svatove area of the Luhansk region of north-eastern Ukraine.

The British Ministry of Defence said that with Russia’s south-western frontline now more defendable on the eastern bank of the Dnieper River, the Svatove area is thought to be a more vulnerable flank of the Russian frontline.

Forty-five countries and organisations are set to meet in the French capital Paris on Monday to discuss providing millions in aid to Moldova, as fears increase that Ukraine’s western neighbour could be further destabilised by the ongoing war.

Moldova is reportedly buckling under the effects of rising food and energy prices, combined with the arrival of about 2.5 million refugees in the country as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.