These images show Ukrainian soldiers training with heavy machine guns and rocket launchers in harsh winter conditions.
The footage shows Ukrainian soldiers in snowy countryside training with assault rifles, heavy machine guns, rocket launchers and grenades.
The images were obtained from the 8th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion of the 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade ‘Edelweiss’ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Monday, 3rd April, along with a statement saying: “‘Sweat protects the blood.’ Despite the weather conditions and the intensity of combat operations, the 8th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion does not forget about combat training, and sharpening and improving the skills of using firearms.”
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 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 404th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 3rd April 2023, Russia had lost about 175,160 personnel, 3,619 tanks, 6,993 armoured combat vehicles, 2,694 artillery units, 527 multiple launch rocket systems, 280 air defence systems, 306 warplanes, 291 helicopters, 2,262 drones, 911 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,553 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 298 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Boris Grizlov, Russia’s Ambassador to Belarus, has said that Moscow will place tactical nuclear weapons near the Belarusian border with Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, which are all NATO members.
Vladlen Tatarsky, a prominent pro-Russia blogger, has been killed in an explosion at a cafe in central Saint Petersburg, according to Russia’s Minister of the Interior.
The bomb was reportedly hidden inside a statue that was given to Tatarsky as a present. The blast also reportedly injured about 30 people.
The US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has requested in a rare phone call with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov, that Russia release the detained American journalist Evan Gershkovich, who was arrested in Russia while working for the Wall Street Journal.
Blinken’s request was rejected by Russia, with Lavrov reportedly saying that the US should not “make a fuss” or attempt to politicise Gershkovich’s case.
The Kremlin has claimed that the journalist was spying and had been caught “red-handed”.
Over three dozen editors from news organisations across the world, including the Washington Post, Euronews, Sky, The Telegraph, The Times, the European Federation of Journalists, the New York Times, the Associated Press, the New Yorker, the Sunday Times, the Wall Street Journal and the Guardian, have signed a letter addressed to the Russian Ambassador to the United States, Anatoly Antonov, condemning the journalist’s detention.
The letter says in part: “Russia is sending the message that journalism within your borders is criminalized and that foreign correspondents seeking to report from Russia do not enjoy the benefits of the rule of law.”
The UK Ministry of Defence has said that Russia has suffered up to 200,000 casualties in the war in Ukraine, with a “significant number” of these due to “non-combat causes”.
The UK MoD added: “Other leading causes of non-combat casualties likely include poor weapon handling drills, road traffic accidents and climatic injuries such as hypothermia.”
Saudi Arabia and other Opec+ oil-producing countries including Russia have announced surprise cuts in oil production, with analysts reportedly saying this will cause an immediate rise in prices.
