Ukrainian Maritime Border Guards Practice Firing From Ship In Odesa Region

These images show Ukrainian maritime border guards practising firing from a ship in the Odesa region.

The footage shows the Ukrainian troops practising firing various weapons on land and at sea, with soldiers seen firing small arms and heavy machine guns at mock targets at the training ground and from a vessel.

The images were obtained from the State Border Service of Ukraine on Wednesday, 22nd February, along with a statement saying: “Firing from a border guard ship: how they protect the sea in Odesa.

“The enemy seeks to dominate our maritime spaces. To prevent this from happening, border seamen constantly improve their skills. In particular, shooting at different distances and with different types of weapons.

“During the training, the Marine Guard of the State Border Service of Ukraine fired at air and surface targets, as well as at conditional groups of saboteurs. To defeat the ‘targets’, the fighters used both small arms and artillery weapons.”

The State Border Service of Ukraine also said in a separate statement: “The sailors of the border guards are constantly improving their skills in handling weapons and are always ready to give a worthy rebuff to the enemy, who seeks to dominate the sea spaces and regularly voices his desire to capture Odesa from the sea.

“Those who have recently received a standard weapon and those who have long mastered it well – all of them regularly practice shooting together, honing their skills and motor skills to automaticity.”

The statement quotes a shooting instructor named as Pavlo as saying: “The development of shooting skills is a process that must continue all the time. You need to know the characteristics of the weapon, how it works, how to bring it to normal combat, in general – to “feel” the weapon. And such classes raise the morale, let us feel the smell of gunpowder and unite us even more in confronting the enemy.”

Ukrainian maritime border guards shoot during combat training in Odesa region, Ukraine in undated footage. The footage was released by the State Border Service of Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (@DPSUkraine/Newsflash)

The statement also said: “At the same time, the entire ship-boat crew is honing their shooting skills at air and surface targets, as well as at conventional groups of saboteurs. And in this aspect, both small-arms and artillery weapons are already involved.

“Shooting on a ship has its own specifics, but the border sailors confidently overcome all difficulties and achieve hitting the target with the first shot.”

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 365th day of the full-scale war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 23rd February 2023, Russia had lost about 145,850 personnel, 3,350 tanks, 6,593 armoured combat vehicles, 2,352 artillery units, 471 multiple launch rocket systems, 244 air defence systems, 299 warplanes, 287 helicopters, 2,029 drones, 873 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,215 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 228 units of special equipment.

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

US President Joe Biden has said that Russian President Vladimir Putin has made a “big mistake” by suspending Russia’s participation in the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty.

Russia’s parliament approved Putin’s move to suspend the treaty on Wednesday.

The US government is reportedly considering releasing information that it thinks shows that China is considering whether to supply weaponry to Russia for its war in Ukraine.

Ukrainian maritime border guards shoot during combat training in Odesa region, Ukraine in undated footage. The footage was released by the State Border Service of Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (@DPSUkraine/Newsflash)

The Secretary General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, has condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called it “an affront to our collective conscience” at a meeting of the General Assembly in New York.

Oleksandr Prokudin, the Ukrainian head of the regional military administration in Kherson, has said that an 81-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man were killed during Russian shelling of the village of Novotyahinka on Wednesday.

President Biden has said that the United States will defend “literally every inch of NATO” territory.

Biden was speaking ahead of a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the leaders of the Bucharest 9 (B9), the most eastern nations of NATO’s Alliance and the closest to Russia’s borders.

Wang Yi, China’s most senior diplomat, has met Putin in Moscow, with China and Russia reaffirming their close relationship.

Wang reportedly told Putin that China will play a “constructive” role in reaching a political settlement on Ukraine, according to Russian state-owned TASS news agency.

Putin has praised Russia’s soldiers, who he said are fighting “heroically, courageously, bravely” to “defend the Fatherland”. He was speaking at a rally in Moscow to mark a year of war in Ukraine.

UK Defence Minister Ben Wallace has said that Britain has begun to “warm up” production lines to replace weaponry sent to Ukraine and to increase artillery shell production.

Ukrainian maritime border guard shoots a gun during combat training in Odesa region, Ukraine in undated footage. The footage was released by the State Border Service of Ukraine on Wednesday, Feb. 22, 2023. (@DPSUkraine/Newsflash)

The US-based think tank the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) has said that it is likely in the future that Russia will control Belarus and that NATO must “seriously plan” for this.

The ISW said that Putin will “very likely secure significant gains in restoring Russian suzerainty over Belarus” and that it is likely that he will use it as a basis to further threaten Ukraine and NATO’s eastern members.