These images allegedly show crews of the People’s Militia of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic striking Ukrainian infantrymen with D-20 howitzer shells.
The footage, which was obtained by Newsflash from the People’s Militia on 22nd December, appears to show artillerymen of the so-called DPR loading the gun with 152-millimetre shells and allegedly blasting them in the direction of New York, Ukraine.
The video then appears to zoom in on a small group who are allegedly enemy infantrymen retreating before the DPR’s soldiers deliver a direct hit.
The People’s Militia said in a statement Newsflash obtained: “The artillery of the 3rd Guards Brigade of the 1st Army Corps grinds down the fortified areas and the retreating manpower of the enemy, supporting the actions of the infantry.
“The crew of the 152-mm D-20 gun managed to achieve a direct hit on a group of retreating enemy infantry.
“The successful actions of the guardsmen of the 3rd brigade are a guarantee that the settlement renamed by the Ukrainian authorities into New York will soon return to its former name of Novhorodske.”
The 152-mm gun-howitzer M1955, also known as the D-20, is a Soviet-made, manually loaded artillery piece that fires powerful 152-mm shells from its 34-calibre ordnance.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 302nd day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 22nd December, Russia had lost about 100,400 personnel, 3,003 tanks, 5,981 armoured combat vehicles, 1,978 artillery units, 413 multiple launch rocket systems, 212 air defence systems, 283 warplanes, 267 helicopters, 1,693 drones, 653 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,615 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 178 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky travelled to Washington, DC to meet with US leaders on 21st December with a plea for military aid.
Zelenskyy called the tens of billions of dollars in US military and economic assistance to Ukraine an investment in democracy and “not charity”.
And the US Congress is set to announce an additional aid package for Ukraine that would include nearly USD 45 billion (GBP 37 billion).
The Kremlin warned that increasing the supply of US weapons to Ukraine would aggravate the war.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu said that Russia needs to prepare an “appropriate” response to NATO’s military expansion near Russian borders, including Finland’s and Sweden’s NATO membership aspirations, and proposed to expand the military.
And Russian President Vladimir Putin admitted that Russian forces had faced challenges with mobilization, lack of drones and new equipment.
The head of the local grid operator in Kyiv, Serhiy Kovalenko, said power outages in Ukraine’s capital remain the most difficult.
He added that the situation may improve if the remaining 40 per cent of transformers do not get hit in new attacks.
Moreover, heavy fighting has been going on in Donetsk, Eastern Ukraine, as Russian forces attempt to make further advances in the region.
General Staff spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said Ukrainian forces repelled attacks around more than 25 populated areas in the Kharkiv, Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The bodies of seven civilians, including a teenage girl, were found in a mass grave in the village of Pravdyne in southern Ukraine, according to the Ukrainian defence minister.
In other developments, the former Russian deputy prime minister and former director of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, was wounded in the Ukrainian bombing of a hotel in the Russian-controlled city of Donetsk.
