This footage shows Ukrainian National Guard fighters in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine landing a direct hit on a Russian BMP-2 with an anti-tank guided missile.
The footage begins by showing the Russian infantry fighting vehicle in the middle of a road a few seconds before it is hit by the guided missile.
Suddenly, the projectile can be seen heading toward the target before it hits it and it explodes, causing grey smoke to rise into the air as the footage ends.
The images were obtained from the National Guard of Ukraine on the evening of Wednesday, July 27, along with a short statement saying: “Donetsk region. Soldiers of the National Guard’s special purpose unit, while performing a combat mission, came close to the enemy’s position and set up an ambush. After that, the Russian BMP-2 was destroyed with a well-aimed shot from Skif ATGM crew.”
The BMP-2 is a Russian amphibious infantry fighting vehicle that was first introduced in the 1980s in the Soviet Union. The ‘Skif’ – or Stugna-P – is a Ukrainian anti-tank guided missile that was first developed in the early 2010s.
Zenger News contacted the National Guard of Ukraine for further comment, as well as the Russian Ministry of Defense, 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”. Thursday marks the 155th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and July 28, Russia had lost about 40,230 personnel, 1,742 tanks, 3,979 armored combat vehicles, 894 artillery units, 258 multiple launch rocket systems, 117 air defense systems, 222 warplanes, 190 helicopters, 729 drones, 174 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,854 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 75 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower, but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
The Armed Forces of Ukraine said they hit the Antonivskiy Bridge in the Russian-occupied region of Kherson in southern Ukraine in a bid to disrupt enemy supplies destined for the occupied city of Kherson.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, has since said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces are planning to “isolate [Russia’s] military operations” in the region and that the operation to liberate Kherson “has already begun”.
President Zelensky said Ukraine would rebuild the Antonivskiy Bridge and other crossings in the region. He said: “We are doing everything to ensure that the occupying forces do not have any logistical opportunities in our country.”
Arestovych also said that Russian forces are being massively redeployed to three regions in southern Ukraine. He said Russian forces were changing tactics and adopting defensive positions in the regions of Melitopol, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
Arestovych confirmed Russia’s claim that it had captured Ukraine’s second biggest power plant, Vuhlehirsk, in eastern Ukraine.
Preparations are ongoing for the first ships carrying grain to leave Ukraine’s ports, with Turkey unveiling a center in Istanbul to oversee the deal, which was brokered by the UN and Ankara and which was signed by both Ukraine and Russia.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has said that he is set to talk to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone. It will be the first call between the two diplomats since the beginning of the Russian invasion.
