This footage shows Ukrainian soldiers loading a mortar with shells and firing them at Russian positions.
The footage was obtained from the 109th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on 16th November, along with a short statement that said soldiers from the battalion used the mortar to “destroy the enemy”.
The 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade is a military unit of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, based in the city of Kolomyia.
Its fighters’ main purpose is to conduct combat operations in mountainous and forested areas.
The footage shows one soldier of the battalion loading up a mortar with large rockets and covering his ears after it fires off in the direction of the Russian invaders.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine also relayed the footage, saying: “Mortar calculations of the 109th separate mountain assault battalion of the 10th OGSHBr mercilessly destroy the enemy’s positions, making them realize that only death awaits the occupiers in Ukraine!”
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 271st day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 21st November, Russia had lost about 84,600 personnel, 2,892 tanks, 5,822 armoured combat vehicles, 1,870 artillery units, 393 multiple launch rocket systems, 209 air defence systems, 278 warplanes, 261 helicopters, 1,537 drones, 480 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,378 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 161 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Russian forces launched nearly 400 strikes in eastern Ukraine as part of a new artillery offensive on Sunday, according to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Zelensky said: “The fiercest battles, as before, are in the Donetsk region. Although there were fewer attacks today due to worsening weather, the amount of Russian shelling unfortunately remains extremely high.”
Zelensky added: “In the Luhansk region, we are slowly moving forward while fighting. As of now, there have been almost 400 artillery attacks in the east since the start of the day.”
Russia has reassigned troops that were in Kherson in southern Ukraine to the eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog, is set on Monday to assess potential damage to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant – Europe’s largest – after renewed shelling.
The head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, said that the forces responsible for the shelling were “playing with fire”.
Germany has offered Poland Patriot missile defence systems to help protect its airspace after a missile hit the NATO member last week.
Christine Lambrecht, Germany’s Minister of Defence, said: “We have offered Poland support in securing airspace – with our Eurofighters and with Patriot air defence systems.”
Mykhaylo Podolyak, a key adviser to the Ukrainian president, has said that negotiations with Russia would amount to “capitulation”.
Podolyak labelled Western attempts to urge Ukraine to negotiate with Russian President Vladimir Putin as “bizarre” as Ukrainian forces have recently won a number of victories on the battlefield.
He said it would be like saying that the country “that recovers its territories must capitulate to the country that is losing”.
