These images show Ukrainian soldiers taking part in combat training in northern Ukraine and tackling a gruelling assault course.
The recruits can be seen making their way through a tough obstacle course, with explosions, barbed wire, fire and water.
The images were obtained from the 115th Zhytomyr Separate Brigade of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces on Tuesday, 14th March, along with a statement saying: “As long as the situation allows, military training activities continue in the northern operational zone – emphasised the commander of the United Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Serhiy Naev, who visited the training of the units of the 115th Separate Brigade of the Ukrainian Territorial Defence Forces.”
The images and statement were also relayed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Wednesday, 15th March.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 385th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 15th March 2023, Russia had lost about 161,520 personnel, 3,492 tanks, 6,799 armoured combat vehicles, 2,528 artillery units, 502 multiple launch rocket systems, 262 air defence systems, 304 warplanes, 289 helicopters, 2,132 drones, 907 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,377 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 257 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
A Russian fighter jet has collided with a US Reaper drone, causing it to crash into the Black Sea in what the United States said was an “unsafe and unprofessional” manoeuvre.
The US’ European Command said the incident took place shortly after 7am on Tuesday, 14th March, when two Russian Su-27 fighter jets approach the American drove over international waters west of Russian-occupied Crimea.
The US State Department summoned Russian ambassador over the incident in what White House officials said was a unique incident.
Anatoly Antonov, the Russian Ambassador to the United States, has reportedly called the incident a provocation.
Antonov reportedly added: “We do not want any confrontation between the United States and Russia. We are in favour of building pragmatic relations.”
The Pentagon, meanwhile, has said that the drone was on a routine intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance mission.
US Air Force Brigadier General Pat Ryders said that Russia was not currently in possession of the drone but did not say whether or not Moscow was seeking to obtain the wreckage to analyse it.
The Russian Ministry of Defence has said that its fighter jets “did not use weapons and did not come into contact” with the drone.
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and the heads of the Ukrainian military have agreed to continue defending the besieged eastern Ukrainian city of Bakhmut.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, said that defending Bakhmut was of “paramount strategic importance” and that it was “key to the stability of the defence of the entire front”.
The Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz Morawiecki, has said that his country could supply MiG fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming four to six weeks.
