These images reportedly show Russian artillery being hit by Ukrainian ordnance.
It is unclear where exactly the footage was shot in Ukraine but it was obtained from the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on the morning of Tuesday, June 22, with a short statement saying that footage showed them “destroying the artillery of the occupiers.”
The 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade was officially named the ’28th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the Winter Campaign’ by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019 and they have actively been taking part in defending Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
We contacted Russian and Ukrainian officials for comment but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation.” June 22 marks the 119th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and June 22, Russia had lost about 34,230 personnel, 1,496 tanks, 3,614 armored combat vehicles, 752 artillery units, 239 multiple launch rocket systems, 99 air defense systems, 216 warplanes, 182 helicopters, 614 drones, 137 cruise missiles, 14 warships, 2,543 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 60 units of special equipment.
The Ukrainian military has said that it has launched airstrikes on Zmiinyi Island, which is also known as Snake Island, causing “significant losses” to Russia’s forces there in an operation that it says is ongoing.
Russia conducted an anti-ship missile exercise this week in the Baltic Sea amid escalating tensions with NATO member Lithuania after the latter country blocked the transit of goods to the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad.
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.
Ukrainian forces have said that they have been successfully thwarting fresh Russian attempts to advance in the Kharkiv region of north-eastern Ukraine, but Russian forces have captured several settlements near Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, with 568 civilians believed to still be sheltering in Sievierodonetsk’s Azot chemical plant.
Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Reintegration of the Temporarily Occupied Territories, has urged locals in the Kherson region to evacuate, to help Ukrainian forces “de-occupy” the area.
British intelligence has claimed that the pro-Russian, so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) may have lost about 55 percent of its original forces.
President Zelenskyy said that a “historic week” has begun as Kyiv awaits a decision from Brussels regarding its EU candidate status, with the EU expected to approve the application by the end of the week.
This comes after the European Parliament adopted a resolution recommending that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of candidate country for EU membership. On June 8, Some 438 Members of the European Parliament voted in favor of the resolution, with 65 voting against and 94 abstaining.
Zelenskyy, speaking to the African Union on Monday, June 20, also accused Russia of holding Africa “hostage” over grain and fertilizer shortages.
