Russia has claimed that its paratroopers have taken out four Ukrainian tanks near Kherson.

The images purport to show Ukrainian military vehicles being targeted by Russian forces. Some vehicles can be seen being damaged while others can be seen exploding.

The images then show what appear to be a number of Ukrainian vehicles manoeuvring before eventually, one of them is hit.

Soldiers can be seen tumbling off an armoured vehicle after it is hit. Some of them appear to be injured.

The images then show other vehicles exploding and on fire.

The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday, 13th October, along with a statement claiming: “The suicide attack of the Armed Forces of Ukraine ended in failure.

“The destruction of armoured vehicles and militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who attempted to attack the positions of Russian units in the Kherson region.

“The AFU militants on tanks and infantry fighting vehicles attacked the positions of Russian paratroopers in order to conduct reconnaissance and break through the defence. The attackers were detected by UAV crews. The crews of the Kornet and Shturm-S anti-tank systems of the Airborne Forces units, having received intelligence, opened fire on the attacking armoured vehicles.

“Russian paratroopers destroyed 4 tanks, 5 infantry fighting vehicles and more than 20 fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. The enemy attack was thwarted.

“The militants of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, fleeing from the battlefield, abandoned the wounded and the dead.”

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 232nd day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 13th October, Russia had lost about 63,800 personnel, 2,511 tanks, 5,167 armoured combat vehicles, 1,556 artillery units, 357 multiple launch rocket systems, 183 air defence systems, 268 warplanes, 240 helicopters, 1,182 drones, 316 cruise missiles, 16 warships, 3,935 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 140 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.

The General Assembly of the United Nations has overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia’s annexation of parts of Ukraine, with 35 countries abstaining, including Pakistan, South Africa, India and China.

The resolution “condemns the organisation by the Russian Federation of so-called referendums within the internationally recognised borders of Ukraine” and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “attempted illegal annexation”, which he announced last month.

The Ukrainian military has announced that it has recaptured more territory near the southern city of Kherson. It is understood that five settlements in the Beryslav district of the north-eastern part of the Kherson region have been recaptured. They have been named as Novovasylivka, Novogrygorivka, Nova Kamyanka, Tryfonivka, and Chervone.

NATO allies have delivered new air defence systems to Ukraine after Russia launched a wave of missile attacks across the country, targeting civilian areas.

The Minister of Defence of Ukraine, Oleksiy Reznikov, said: “A new era of air defence has begun in Ukraine.”

He added: “Iris-Ts from Germany are already here. Nasams [from the US] are coming. This is only the beginning. And we need more.”

The United Kingdom has also said that it will provide AMRAAM air defence missiles that are capable of shooting down cruise missiles.

The European Commission is set to present plans next week geared towards mitigating rising energy costs.

Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said that there are plans to set up joint gas purchases by 2023 to harness the bloc’s collective purchasing power and to “avoid member states outbidding each other on the market”, which “drives up” prices.

Putin has claimed that Russia is prepared to resume supplying gas to Europe via part of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline that remains operational, saying that it was up to the European Union to decide if it wanted gas supplied by this pipeline.

(T4/ends)