The People’s Militia of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic has said that one of its special forces battalions has destroyed a moving Ukrainian tank using anti-tank guided missiles.
The footage appears to show the Ukrainian tank being hit by pro-Russian Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) ordnance while driving along a road.
It can then be seen leaving the road with smoke billowing from it after it is hit.
The images were obtained from the People’s Militia of the so-called DPR on Monday, 24th October, along with a statement claiming: “Scouts of the special forces battalion destroyed a tank of the Armed Forces
of Ukraine.
“Scouts of the special forces battalion of the People’s Militia of the DPR with the help of ATGMs destroyed the tank of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the move.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 243rd day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 24th October, Russia had lost about 67,940 personnel, 2,590 tanks, 5,295 armoured combat vehicles, 1,673 artillery units, 375 multiple launch rocket systems, 189 air defence systems, 270 warplanes, 245 helicopters, 1,370 drones, 350 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 4,044 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 149 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Moscow has demanded that more civilians flee the Russian-occupied Kherson region to escape a potential Ukrainian counteroffensive amid a “tense situation on the front”.
The Russian news agency Interfax has said that 25,000 people had been removed from Kherson since last Tuesday.
Russia and Ukraine have both accused each other of plotting to blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam, which could result in a large area of southern Ukraine, including Kherson, being flooded.
The United States and Ukraine have denounced allegations by the Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Shoigu, that Ukraine is preparing to use a “dirty bomb” – a bomb that combines conventional explosives with radioactive material.
Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on Sunday: “If Russia calls and says that Ukraine is allegedly preparing something, it means one thing: Russia has already prepared all this.”
The White House National Security Council said in a statement: “The world would see through any attempt to use this allegation as a pretext for escalation.”
Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary of the United Kingdom, has also refuted Shoigu’s claims, with the UK Ministry of Defence saying: “The Defence Secretary refuted these claims and cautioned that such allegations should not be used as a pretext for greater escalation.”
A Russian Su-30 fighter jet has crashed into a two-storey building in Siberia, killing two crew members.
Iran has said that it will provide Russia with 40 turbines to support its gas industry amid Western sanctions over the war in Ukraine.
The Iranian Gas Engineering and Development Company’s CEO, Reza Noushadi, has been quoted by the Iranian oil ministry’s news agency Shana as saying that the country’s “industrial successes are not limited to the fields of missiles and drones”.
Ukraine’s special operations forces have said that Iranian drone instructors have been sighted in Belarus.
The deputy head of the Ukrainian presidency, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said that Ukraine currently faces widespread electricity outages after Russian airstrikes across the country have left more than a million homes without power.
