Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
This video purports to show a Ukrainian anti-tank missile blowing up a stronghold of Russian troops and ammo.
The video opens with a view of what is apparently a Russian military position in the crosshairs before a missile is fired towards it.
Seconds later, a huge explosion is seen and the Ukrainian troops watching the event unfold on their screen can be heard cheering.
Newsflash obtained the footage from the Operational Command North (OC North) – a command of the Ukrainian Ground Forces – yesterday (Thursday, 9th June).
OC North said (in Ukrainian): “Somewhere in the Donbas, soldiers of one of the units of the Operational Command North went hunting with their faithful Stugna.
“A little hard work and the result – a clear destruction of the enemy, along with ammunition.
“Stugna wins again! Ukraine will also win! Believe in the Armed Forces!”
The Stugna-P is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile system developed by the Luch Design Bureau in Kyiv. It entered service in 2011.
It was famously used by Ukrainian forces on 5th April to down a Russian Kamov Ka-52 attack helicopter.
And during one engagement near Izyum on 25th April, four tanks were destroyed or damaged in four minutes by the same Stugna-P operator.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 107th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 10th June, Russia had lost 31,900 personnel, 1,409 tanks, 3,450 armoured fighting vehicles, 712 artillery pieces, 222 multiple launch rocket systems, 97 anti-aircraft systems, 212 warplanes, 178 helicopters, 2,438 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 warships, 572 tactical drones, 54 pieces of special equipment and 125 cruise missiles.
More than 1,000 Ukrainian troops captured in Mariupol have been transferred to Russia, according to Russian media. Ukrainian officials estimate that at least 21,000 civilians have been killed in the city.
Two British men, Aiden Aslin, 28, and Shaun Pinner, 48, have been sentenced to death by a court in separatist-controlled eastern Ukraine after being captured while fighting with the Ukrainian army in Mariupol against Russian troops.
An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said that Ukraine is losing up to 200 troops a day.
The United Kingdom and the United States are sending long-range missile systems to Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned of more attacks in Ukraine if the West sends long-range weapons.
President Putin has said that the West will not be able to wean itself off from Russian oil and gas for years. US officials have now also admitted that Russian profits on energy might even be higher than they were before the war started.
President Zelenskyy has said that Russian attacks on the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk has turned them into “dead cities”. But he added that Ukrainian forces could still hold Sievierodonetsk despite being outnumbered.
Russia’s ambassador to the United Nations, Vassily Nebenzia, walked out of a Security Council meeting after his country was blamed by European Council president Charles Michel for triggering a global food crisis.
President Zelenskyy has requested that a corridor be set up so that the country may export grain currently stuck in Ukrainian ports.
The European Parliament has 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.
