These images purport to show the moment that Ukrainian paratroopers destroy two Russian tanks.
The released video images reportedly show a Ukrainian soldier successfully targeting the Russian military vehicles.
It is currently unclear where exactly in Ukraine the footage was filmed but it was obtained from the Command of the Assault Troops of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who said: “The video shows how the soldiers of the anti-tank unit of the 80th separate assault brigade of the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine successfully hunt for heavy armored vehicles of the enemy.
“In particular, two tanks of Russian invaders were destroyed by Lviv paratroopers using the Stugna-P anti-tank missile system.
“Judging by the detonation of ammunition, enemy combat vehicles together with their crews underwent a complete ‘demilitarization’.”
They signed off with “death to the Russian occupiers!” and “Glory to Ukraine!”
We contact
ed 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 calling a “special military operation” to “liberate the Donbas.” June 17 marks the 114th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and June 17, Russia had lost about 33,150 personnel, 1,456 tanks, 3,563 armored combat vehicles, 734 artillery units, 233 multiple launch rocket systems, 97 air defense systems, 215 warplanes, 180 helicopters, 593 drones, 129 cruise missiles, 13 warships, 2,496 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 55 units of special equipment.
Washington has told China it risks ending up on the “wrong side of history” following Chinese President Xi Jinping’s assurances given to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Beijing supports Russian “sovereignty.”
Thousands of civilians remain trapped in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, where the water supply is reported to be dwindling. Hundreds of civilians are taking shelter in the bunkers beneath the city’s Azot chemical plant.
Luhansk Oblast governor Serhiy Haidai said earlier this week that all three bridges into Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed, making delivering supplies and evacuating civilians impossible.
President Joe Biden has promised Kyiv another one billion dollars in security assistance and weapons. And the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Mark Milley, says Russia has lost around 20 to 30 percent of its armored forces during the ongoing invasion.
Former Russian president and staunch Vladimir Putin ally Dmitry Medvedev derided French, German and Italian leaders for their visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as “fans of frogs, liverwurst and spaghetti”.
French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi arrived in the Ukrainian capital by train from Poland for talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday, June 16.
On June 8, the European Parliament adopted a resolution recommending that the European Union grant Ukraine the status of candidate country for EU membership. In the balloting, 438 members of the European Parliament voted in favor of the resolution, with 65 voting against and 94 abstaining.
