These images appear to show Russia hitting a Ukrainian howitzer and other military vehicles and positions – with kamikaze drones.
The footage, obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence, begins by showing what appears to be a Ukrainian howitzer being filmed from above before it is hit by what appears to be a kamikaze drone.
The images then cut to what appears to be a Ukrainian military vehicle being hit, also by a kamikaze drone.
A third and fourth set of images also appear to show Russian kamikaze drones flying into a Ukrainian military vehicle and a Ukrainian defensive position.
A Ukrainian tank is then seen opening fire, presumably on a Russian target, before it is also targeted by what appears to be a kamikaze drone that slams straight into it, causing a large explosion.
The footage ends with what appears to be a night-time shot of another kamikaze drone flying into a Ukrainian military vehicle.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday, 20th October, along with a statement claiming: “Airborne troops destroyed weapons, military armoured and special equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the special military operation.
“The servicemen of the Airborne Forces, using UAV complexes, destroyed a towed howitzer Msta-B, radar systems, a tank and military equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
“Target coordinates were transmitted in real time from unmanned aerial vehicles.”
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 239th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 20th October, Russia had lost about 66,650 personnel, 2,567 tanks, 5,255 armoured combat vehicles, 1,646 artillery units, 372 multiple launch rocket systems, 189 air defence systems, 269 warplanes, 243 helicopters, 1,311 drones, 329 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,005 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 147 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has declared martial law in the four provinces of Ukraine he claims to have annexed.
The new law gives significant emergency powers to the Moscow-installed heads of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Putin has also tightened security across Russia, introducing three different levels of security. The highest level of security will affect regions close to the border with Ukraine and is geared towards increasing security and public order.
The Moscow-installed head of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Saldo, has spoken of plans to relocate 60,000 people across the Dnieper River and into Russia over the next week, ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake the city.
Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff, has called the Russian announcements “a propaganda show”, with officials in Kyiv saying that the population transfers amount to “deportations”.
Ukrainian officials have also said that civilians should not comply with the Russian request to evacuate.
Russia has continued to launch new missile strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Three additional energy facilities were destroyed on Wednesday, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky also said that Ukrainian officials are working to create mobile power points, adding that Russian airstrikes have so far destroyed 30 per cent of Ukraine’s power stations since 10th October, causing huge blackouts across the country.
Ukraine said that it was going to restrict electricity supplies across the country as of 7am today, Thursday.
Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, has said that the Russian strikes are “acts of pure terror” and that they amount to war crimes.
Her comments came after hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were reportedly left without electricity or water on Wednesday as a result of the Russian strikes.
The European Union is reportedly planning to impose sanctions on three senior Iranian military commanders and the company that builds the drones that are believed to have been used by Russia to launch numerous attacks on Ukraine in the past week.
The Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, Ben Wallace, has said, after talks in Washington with his opposite number, that Putin will face “severe consequences” if he uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
