This footage shows a Ukrainian soldier joking that he is “leasing” a captured military vehicle, not from the Americans, but from the Russians.

The footage begins by showing the scale of the devastation after Ukrainian forces recently recaptured 40 settlements in the Lyman and Sviatohir areas of northern Donetsk.

The images also show the number of abandoned Russian military vehicles which will no doubt be of use to the Ukrainian side.

Houses can be seen destroyed, with Russian tanks seriously damaged and left to rust. Unused ordnance can also be seen lying around, the white ‘Z’ symbols still visible on some vehicles.

A soldier can be seen saying to the camera (in Ukrainian): “Our military guys joke: ‘Look! It is a lease, not American, but from Russia!’ Unique!”.

The footage was obtained from the State border service of Ukraine on Thursday, 20th October, along with a statement saying: “Counteroffensive in Donetsk region: what border guards found at captured positions of the Russian army.

“In the course of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian defence forces liberated 40 settlements in the Lyman and Sviatohir communities in the north of the Donetsk region.

“Part of the fortified positions, from where it was possible to knock out Russian units in this area, were occupied by the border guards. Fleeing, the occupants left behind a significant amount of equipment, weapons and ammunition.”

The images and statement were also relayed by the General Staff 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 239th day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 20th October, Russia had lost about 66,650 personnel, 2,567 tanks, 5,255 armoured combat vehicles, 1,646 artillery units, 372 multiple launch rocket systems, 189 air defence systems, 269 warplanes, 243 helicopters, 1,311 drones, 329 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,005 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 147 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 declared martial law in the four provinces of Ukraine he claims to have annexed.

The new law gives significant emergency powers to the Moscow-installed heads of the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Putin has also tightened security across Russia, introducing three different levels of security. The highest level of security will affect regions close to the border with Ukraine and is geared towards increasing security and public order.

The Moscow-installed head of the city of Kherson in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Saldo, has spoken of plans to relocate 60,000 people across the Dnieper River and into Russia over the next week, ahead of an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive to retake the city.

Andriy Yermak, the Ukrainian President’s Chief of Staff, has called the Russian announcements “a propaganda show”, with officials in Kyiv saying that the population transfers amount to “deportations”.

Ukrainian officials have also said that civilians should not comply with the Russian request to evacuate.

Russia has continued to launch new missile strikes targeting Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Three additional energy facilities were destroyed on Wednesday, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Zelensky also said that Ukrainian officials are working to create mobile power points, adding that Russian airstrikes have so far destroyed 30 per cent of Ukraine’s power stations since 10th October, causing huge blackouts across the country.

Ukraine said that it was going to restrict electricity supplies across the country as of 7am today, Thursday.

Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, has said that the Russian strikes are “acts of pure terror” and that they amount to war crimes.

Her comments came after hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians were reportedly left without electricity or water on Wednesday as a result of the Russian strikes.

The European Union is reportedly planning to impose sanctions on three senior Iranian military commanders and the company that builds the drones that are believed to have been used by Russia to launch numerous attacks on Ukraine in the past week.

The Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, Ben Wallace, has said, after talks in Washington with his opposite number, that Putin will face “severe consequences” if he uses nuclear weapons in Ukraine.