Ukrainian forces have said that they have hit Russian positions with grenade launchers near Bakhmut and “mown down” enemy infantry.

The footage shows a Ukrainian soldier loading grenades into a belt-fed grenade launcher and opening fire someone the frontlines in the Bakhmut area.

The video then cuts to a Russian soldier apparently fleeing the battlefield before his position is hit by Ukrainian ordnance.

The images then show Ukrainian forces on the ground liaising with a command centre with eyes in the sky before a Ukrainian soldier is seen firing a belt-fed grenade launcher as the footage ends.

The images were obtained from the State Border Service of Ukraine on Tuesday, 27th June, along with a statement saying: “Battles in the Bakhmut direction: border guards mow down Russian infantry.

“The Ukrainian military, in particular border units, are advancing in the Bakhmut area. According to the fighters, the main task now is to neutralize as many enemy infantry as possible. A wide variety of means are used for this: drops from drones, automatic grenade launchers, mortars, LNG.

“Air reconnaissance units of the DPSU quickly adjust strikes and monitor the actions of the enemy. Part of the Russian military could not withstand the onslaught and voluntarily surrendered.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 489th day of the full-scale war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 27th June 2023, Russia had lost about 226,170 personnel, 4,036 tanks, 7,834 armoured combat vehicles, 4,083 artillery units, 626 multiple launch rocket systems, 386 air defence systems, 314 warplanes, 308 helicopters, 3,492 drones, 1,261 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 6,772 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 563 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that his forces had “advanced in all directions”.

He added: “This is a happy day. I wished the guys more days like this.”

Zelensky’s comments come after reports emerged that Ukrainian forces reportedly establish a foothold near the Antonovsky Bridge on the left bank of the Dnipro River in Kherson.

The Ukrainian president visited two frontline areas in eastern and southern Ukraine on Monday, handing out awards to troops and posing for pictures with them.

He said: “Thank you for protecting our country, sovereignty, our families, children, Ukraine.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin has given his first public address since the Wagner mutiny over the weekend led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.

Putin said that Ukraine and its Western allies wanted Russians to “kill each other”, adding that the uprising was “doomed to fail” and that Russia had shown “unity” in the face of the rebellion, which he labelled as “treacherous”.

Putin also said that he had granted Wagner fighters amnesty, saying that they could return to their families, sign contracts with the Russian military, or go to Belarus.

Prigozhin has released his first statement since the aborted mutiny, denying that he and his troops were attempting a coup, arguing instead that he was staging a protest and a “march for justice” regarding how his men had been treated and how the war was being conducted.

The United States has reportedly set up a USD 500 million package of military aid for Ukraine including Bradley fighting vehicles and Stryker armoured personnel carriers.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that Wagner’s aborted mutiny had demonstrated that Moscow made a strategic mistake by starting the war in Ukraine.

He said: “The events over the weekend are an internal Russian matter, and yet another demonstration of the big strategic mistake that President Vladimir Putin made with his illegal annexation of Crimea and the war against Ukraine.”

Josep Borrell, the EU’s High Representative For Foreign Affairs, has said that the mutiny showed that Russia’s military power is “cracking”, adding that the “monster Putin has created is turning against him”.

Gitanas Nauseda, the President of Lithuania, has cautioned that NATO will need to strengthen its eastern flank if Prigozhin is exiled to Belarus.

He said: “If Prigozhin or part of the Wagner group ends up in Belarus with unclear plans and unclear intentions, it will only mean that we need to further strengthen the security of our eastern borders.”