These images show Ukrainian Marines firing rockets at the Russian invaders.
The footage shows a multiple launch rocket system positioned on a road, which can be seen opening fire and shooting a volley of rockets into the air.
The images were obtained from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilinskyi of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Monday, 12th December, along with a statement saying: “Marines of the 36th Separate Marine Brigade named after Rear Admiral Mykhailo ‘saluted’ with 122 mm [shells] on the day of the constitution of the terrorist state on the positions of the occupiers in the East.
“When the basic ‘law’ of the horde allows you to annex the sovereign territories of an independent state and justify the bloodshed of the civilian population, you will always be ‘welcomed’ in this way. Glory to the marines of Ukraine!”
Constitution Day is a public holiday celebrated in Russia on 12th December to commemorate the adoption of the Russian Constitution in 1993 following the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The images and statement were also relayed by the Office of Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 289th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 13th December, Russia had lost about 95,260 personnel, 2,966 tanks, 5,930 armoured combat vehicles, 1,931 artillery units, 404 multiple launch rocket systems, 211 air defence systems, 281 warplanes, 264 helicopters, 1,617 drones, 592 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,549 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 170 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Ukraine has asked Western countries to provide it with Patriot missile systems.
Denys Shmyhal, the country’s Prime Minister, has said that Western air defence systems are needed in order to counter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s missile attacks on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
Jan Egeland, the head of Norway’s refugee council, has said that he expects hundreds of thousands of refugees from Ukraine to flee to Europe over the winter due to “unliveable” conditions.
He said: “Nobody knows how many, but there will be hundreds of thousands more [people leaving Ukraine] as the horrific and unlawful bombing of civilian infrastructure makes life unliveable in too many places.”
The European Union has reached an agreement to send EUR 18 billion in financial aid to Ukraine.
The EU has managed to strike a deal with Hungary after the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban blocked the deal.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has asked G7 leaders to hold a special global summit during the winter to bring peace to Ukraine.
Russian arms dealer Viktor Bout has become a member of the Kremlin- loyalist ultranationalist Liberal Democratic Party (LDPR).
The move comes after the “Merchant of Death” was freed after 14 years in US custody in a prisoner swap with American basketball player Brittney Griner.
Ivan Fedorov, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, has said that Moscow’s forces are “redeploying” and “panicking” after Ukraine attacked the Russian-occupied city over the weekend.
Putin will not hold an end-of-year press conference for the first time in over 10 years, in what many consider to be a break with protocol as a result of the war in Ukraine.
