Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
These images purport to show the moment Ukrainian artillery destroys Russian multiple rocket launcher vehicles.
The footage, which appears to have been shot from a drone, shows what appear to be four multiple rocket launcher vehicles being targeted and destroyed, with the Ukrainian General Staff saying that they had hit “multiple rocket launchers”.
A black cloud of smoke rises into the air as the site is systematically hit with what Ukrainian forces said was artillery fire.
The discovery unclear where exactly the images were filmed in Ukraine but they were obtained from the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who said: “As the 40th Separate Artillery Brigade named after Grand Duke Vytautas recently destroyed multiple enemy rocket launchers.”
The 40th Separate Artillery Brigade has been involved in the war in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine since 2015 where they have been fighting pro-Russian separatists. In peacetime, it is headquartered in Pervomaisk, which is located in the Mykolaiv Oblast region in southern Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation” to “liberate the Donbass”. Today marks the 117th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 20th June, Russia had lost about 33,800 personnel, 1,477 tanks, 3,588 armoured combat vehicles, 749 artillery units, 235 multiple launch rocket systems, 98 air defence systems, 216 warplanes, 181 helicopters, 601 drones, 130 cruise missiles, 14 warships, 2,527 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 55 units of special equipment.
The new head of the British Army, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, has told British forces that they need to be ready to face Russia on the battlefield and said the British Army now needs to be capable of defeating Russia.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has visited Ukraine’s southern frontline as Ukrainian forces mount a counter attack in the region to push back Russian troops.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the war in Ukraine could last years, adding that while the costs were high, the cost of allowing Russia to achieve its military goals would be even greater.
Washington told China last week that it risked ending up on the “wrong side of history” following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Beijing supports Russian “sovereignty”. Russia has now become China’s top oil supplier amid ongoing sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine.
Thousands of civilians remain trapped in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, where the water supply is reported to be dwindling. Hundreds of civilians are taking shelter in the bunkers beneath the city’s Azot chemical plant.
Luhansk Oblast governor Serhiy Haidai said all three bridges into Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed, making delivering supplies and evacuating civilians impossible.
United States President Joe Biden has promised Kyiv another USD 1 billion in security assistance and weapons. And US General Mark Milley says Russia has lost around 20 to 30 per cent of its armoured force during the ongoing invasion.
Former Russian president and staunch Vladimir Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev has derided French, German and Italian leaders visiting the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as “fans of frogs, liverwurst and spaghetti”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi held talks in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with President Zelenskyy on 16th June.
President Zelenskyy said that a “historic week” has begun as Kyiv awaits a decision from Brussels regarding its EU candidate status.
The European Parliament adopted a resolution recommending that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of candidate country for EU membership. Some 438 MEPs voted in favour of the resolution, with 65 voting against and 94 abstaining.
