These images show Ukraine showing off its firepower with its soldiers seen shouting “Glory to Ukraine” to mark national military holidays being celebrated in the country.
The Day of Missile Forces and Artillery and the Day of Engineering Troops are national holidays in Ukraine that are celebrated annually on 3rd November in honour of Ukrainian Missile Forces and Artillery and in honour of the military personnel of the engineering troops of Ukraine.
The Day of Missile Forces and Artillery dates back to 1997 and the Day of Engineering Troops was introduced in 1999.
The images show Ukrainian soldiers firing their weaponry amid cries including “Glory to Ukraine!”
The images were obtained from the National Guard of Ukraine on Thursday, 3rd November, along with a statement saying: “They mow down the tank columns of the occupiers. They cover the headquarters, ammunition warehouses, positions, calculations of the invaders.
“They are the hope of the infantry, the shield of civilians, the storm on earth and in the heavens!
“Today the gunners of Armed Forces of Ukraine celebrate a professional holiday. But they do it not at the festive table, but in the field — at firing positions and in hellish counter-battery duels!”
The National Guard wished the Prince soldiers “peace and well-being to your families!” and said it had “deep respect” for their service, before signing off with “Glory to Ukraine! We will definitely win!”
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 253rd day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 3rd November, Russia had lost about 74,000 personnel, 2,734 tanks, 5,552 armoured combat vehicles, 1,755 artillery units, 390 multiple launch rocket systems, 198 air defence systems, 277 warplanes, 258 helicopters, 1,442 drones, 397 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,162 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 155 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 reversed course and said that Russia is now rejoining the UN-brokered grain export deal.
Putin said on Wednesday: “We demanded assurances and guarantees from the Ukrainian side that nothing like this would happen again, that the humanitarian corridors would not be used militarily.”
The move by Russia comes after a large convoy of ships transported a record amount of grain from Ukrainian ports in defiance of Moscow’s warnings that it would not be safe to do so without its participation.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has welcomed Russia’s U-turn, saying that it was a “significant diplomatic result to our country and the whole world”.
Zelensky added on Wednesday evening: “Implementation of the grain export initiative continues. The Kremlin is demanding security guarantees from Ukraine. This shows both the failure of the Russian aggression and how strong we are when we remain united.”
The United States has also welcomed the move, with State Department spokesperson Ned Price praising UN and Turkish mediators and adding that it was important that the deal was “not only set back in motion, but it’s renewed later this month.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken thanked Turkey in a statement for its efforts to ensure the continuation of the deal and reminded Russia of the “importance of continued adherence to UN-brokered agreements and its commitments to support global food security.”
Russia has said that it is committed to preventing a nuclear war and that preventing confrontation between countries with nuclear weapons was its top priority.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that it feared that nuclear powers were “on the brink of a direct armed conflict” and that Western powers must stop “encouraging provocations with weapons of mass destruction, which can lead to catastrophic consequences”.
The United States has accused North Korea of secretly providing Russia with “a significant number” of artillery shells. The accusation comes amid increasing evidence that Russia is suffering from a shortage of key weaponry.
US National security council spokesperson John Kirby said that the White House believes that North Korea is “covertly supplying” weaponry to Russia while “trying to make it appear as though they are being sent to countries in the Middle East or North Africa”.
Moscow has said that it plans to summon Deborah Bronnert, the UK Ambassador to Russia, to address its unproven accusation that “British specialists” were involved in the Sevastopol drone attack on Russia’s Black Sea fleet.
This comes after Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that the UK was “deeply involved” in the attack on Sevastopol, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS.
