The so-called Donetsk People’s Republic has said that it has destroyed a Ukrainian infantry fighting vehicle using an anti-tank missile.
The images purport to show the pro-Russian forces firing the missile at the Ukrainian tank and hitting it, causing a large explosion as the tank is destroyed.
The footage then cuts to the tank apparently on fire after it was hit.
The images were obtained from the People’s Militia of the Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) on Friday, 2nd June, along with a statement claiming: “BMP Scouts of the 58th Separate Special Purpose Battalion (3 Special Purpose Battalions of the Donetsk People’s Republic) detected the movement of enemy equipment with the help of thermal imagers.
“With one well-aimed shot from an anti-tank missile system, an infantry fighting vehicle of Ukrainian militants was destroyed.”
We have not been able to independently verify the claims or the footage.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 464th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 2nd June 2023, Russia had lost about 208,910 personnel, 3,819 tanks, 7,490 armoured combat vehicles, 3,501 artillery units, 575 multiple launch rocket systems, 335 air defence systems, 313 warplanes, 298 helicopters, 3,137 drones, 1,117 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 6,267 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 465 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
The Ukrainian authorities in the capital Kyiv have said that three people including a child have been killed and a dozen people have been injured after a missile attack on the city hit a block of flats, two schools and a medical facility for children.
The governor of Russia’s Belgorod region, Vyacheslav Gladkov, has said that at least nine civilians have been injured in shelling.
He accused the Ukrainian Armed Forces of hitting the town of Shebekino with ‘Grad’ rockets, but responsibility for the raid has been claimed by Russian anti-Putin partisans.
Ukraine has reportedly imposed sanctions on Alexander Lebedev, a former KGB intelligence officer whose son Evgeny Lebedev is a Member of the House of Lords in the United Kingdom, over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The sanctions were reportedly put in place last October by the National Security and Defence Council in Kyiv as a result of a decree signed by President Volodymyr Zelensky, it emerged on Thursday.
Zelensky has said that Kyiv wants a “clear” decision to be made regarding its future in NATO when the organisation’s members meet in Vilnius, in Lithuania, next month.
NATO foreign ministers met in Oslo, in Norway, to discuss security guarantees for Ukraine, among other issues. Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s Foreign Minister, said it was time for members to determine how Ukraine can become a member.
Tobias Billstrom, Sweden’s Foreign Minister, said in Oslo that the time had also come for Turkey and Hungary to ratify Sweden’s NATO membership bid.
He said: “We have fulfilled all our commitments.”
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said that he would travel to Turkey to discuss Sweden’s membership of the alliance.
