These images purport to show a column of Ukrainian tanks and armoured vehicles being destroyed by Russian artillery after being detected by UAVs.
The footage shows military vehicles advancing on a dirt road before they are targeted by what appears to be artillery fire.
The footage then shows military vehicles hidden among some trees running along a dirt track, with some of the vehicles shown to have been destroyed and with soldiers apparently lying dead nearby.
Close-up images that also appear to have been filmed by a drone show an armoured vehicle with its doors open, apparently abandoned.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Friday, 7th October, along with a statement claiming: “The units of the Airborne Forces inflicted fire damage on the units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the zone of the special military operation.
“Airborne troops with the help of UAVs found a column of armoured vehicles of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and launched a fire strike with artillery, hitting the enemy’s manpower and military equipment.
“As a result of the strike, two tanks and five units of other armoured vehicles, including foreign-made ones, were destroyed.”
The Russian MoD also quoted an unnamed Airborne forces serviceman who allegedly took part in the confrontation as saying: “The observer saw a tank with infantry on it. Behind comes the infantry. They started firing at us with guns, mortars, small arms. The battle went on for about two hours. Tank ATGMs. Toward the end of the battle, the enemy fled in a panic. On the same day, we took a prisoner, and interrogated him, he told us about their number.”
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 226th day of the war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 7th October, Russia had lost about 61,680 personnel, 2,466 tanks, 5,093 armoured combat vehicles, 1,455 artillery units, 344 multiple launch rocket systems, 177 air defence systems, 266 warplanes, 233 helicopters, 1,067 drones, 246 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 3,862 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 135 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
US President Joe Biden has said that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at its highest level since the Cuban missile crisis in 1962.
President Biden added that Russian President Vladimir Putin was “not joking” regarding the possible use tactical nuclear weapons after the Kremlin’s military forces suffered significant defeats on Ukrainian soil.
President Biden also said that the United States was “trying to figure out” Putin’s way out of the conflict.
Ukrainian forces have recaptured 500 square kilometres of their territory from occupying Russian forces in a week.
The European Union has imposed new sanctions on Russia aimed to expand import and export bans and targeting specific individuals in response to the Kremlin’s attempt to annex four Ukrainian regions.
Two Russian citizens have requested asylum from the United States after being picked up on a small Alaskan island having crossed the Bering Sea in a small boat to avoid conscription, according to the office of Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski.
The Kremlin has denied reports that over 700,000 Russian citizens have fled the country since Putin announced a mobilisation that would see hundreds of thousands of people called up to be sent to fight in Ukraine.
Today, Friday, 7th October, marks Putin’s 70th birthday. Lithuania’s Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas has jokingly tweeted: “Today Putin on the occasion of his birthday was given a new table and binoculars for communicating with visitors. Lithuanian people are raising money for some ‘fireworks’.”
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin was born on 7th October 1952 in St Petersburg. He worked for the KGB – the main security agency for the Soviet Union – for 16 year, attaining the rank of lieutenant colonel before launching his political career in 1991 in his home city of St Petersburg. He was appointed director of the FSB, the successor to the KGB, in 1998, by Boris Yeltsin, before first becoming the President of Russia in 2000.
