Story By: Ana Marjanovic, Sub-Editor: Michael Leidig, Agency: Newsflash
These images reportedly show how Ukrainian Marines, working with artillery gunners and a mechanised unit, took out a Russian tank and ammunition.
The footage was obtained from the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, officially the “Rear Admiral Mykhailo Bilynsky 36th Separate Marine Brigade” of the Ukrainian Navy, on the evening of Thursday, 23rd June, and they said: “What could be better than working together with comrades at the front? Only effective teamwork can be better!
“The other day in the southern steppes, thanks to reconnaissance and air reconnaissance, the 36th Separate Marine Brigade, along with artillery and the 63rd Separate Mechanized Brigade, denazified an enemy tank.”
They added: “Thanks to joint efforts – adjustment of fire by Marines and accurate shots of artillerymen – in the morning report of the General Staff of the Armed Forces there was one more destroyed enemy tank”
They saigned off saying: “Together to victory!”
It is unclear where exactly in Ukraine the images were filmed but the images were also relayed by the Centre for Strategic Communications and Information Security, which is a government organisation working under the Ukrainian Ministry of Culture and Information.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 121st day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 24th June, Russia had lost about 34,530 personnel, 1,507 tanks, 3,637 armoured combat vehicles, 759 artillery units, 241 multiple launch rocket systems, 99 air defence systems, 216 warplanes, 183 helicopters, 622 drones, 137 cruise missiles, 14 warships, 2,553 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 60 units of special equipment.
On Thursday, 23rd June, the European Union approved Ukraine’s application to become a candidate for admission to the bloc, which is currently made up of 27 countries. The decision has been hailed in both Brussels and Kyiv as a “historic moment”, with President Zelenskyy saying that “Ukraine’s future is in the EU”.
The head of the International Energy Agency, Fatih Birol, warned Russia may stop supplying gas to Europe this winter. Several European countries have already received less Russian gas than expected in the last few weeks, with European imports of natural gas from Russia dropping from approximately 40 per cent to 20 per cent.
Germany has taken a step closer to gas rationing after a drop in supplies from Russia.
British intelligence has estimated that the pro-Russian, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) has lost 55 per cent of its original forces.
US intelligence has revealed that Russia is mining the Black Sea ports of Odesa and Ochakiv to throttle Ukraine’s ability to export grain.
Russia is now thought to control all of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, apart from the Azot chemical plant.
Russian Foreign Ministry press secretary Maria Zakharova has said that Moscow’s response to Lithuania banning the transit of goods, sanctioned by the EU, to Kaliningrad will not only be diplomatic but also practical.
But Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte has accused Russia of lying over the blockade, saying that people are still able to travel between Russia and Kaliningrad and that the blockade only affects 1 per cent of goods.
Russia conducted an anti-ship missile exercise in the Baltic Sea amid escalating tensions with NATO member Lithuania after the country blocked the transit of some goods to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for the Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, has urged locals in the Kherson region to evacuate, to help Ukrainian forces “deoccupy” the area.
Ukrainian officials have said that there are currently no safe towns for civilians in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine, as fighting in the area intensifies.
