Russia has said that its T-80 tanks have hit Ukrainian military positions on the frontlines near Liman, as these images purport to show.
The footage shows Russian soldiers loading a tank with ordnance before one of the machines can be seen manoeuvring into a clearing before reversing between some trees for cover.
It can then be seen repeatedly opening fire with the images cut to an explosion in a wooded area.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence on Friday, 27th October, along with a statement claiming: “In the Krasno-Limansky direction, in the zone of the Special Military Operation, the crews of the nomadic T-80 tanks of the Guards Tank Division of the Central Military District are destroying the manpower of the Ukrainian Armed Forces from closed firing positions.
“During combat duty on the line of combat contact, the crews of T-80 tanks of the Central Military District make a high-speed march to firing positions to hit identified targets by firing along a mounted trajectory. After firing a series of shots, the tank leaves the firing position, moving to the next area, forcing the enemy to reveal itself with return fire, taking bearings using artillery or technical reconnaissance.
“The use of T-80 tanks as nomadic fire weapons is due to the characteristics of the combat vehicle’s gas turbine engine, which allows it to arrive at positions at high speed almost silently. Also, the tankers of the Central Military District note the high accuracy of the smoothbore 125-mm 2A46 cannon of the combat vehicle and its sighting system, which allows them to hit targets with high efficiency both direct fire and along a mounted trajectory from closed firing positions.”
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 611th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 26th October 2023, Russia had lost about 297,680 personnel, 5,145 tanks, 9,726 armoured combat vehicles, 7,162 artillery units, 834 multiple launch rocket systems, 556 air defence systems, 320 warplanes, 324 helicopters, 5,390 drones, 1,538 cruise missiles, 20 warships, 1 submarine, 9,513 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 1,011 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
The White House has said that Russia has been executing soldiers who fail to follow orders and threatening entire units if they retreated from Ukrainian artillery fire.
John Kirby, the White House National Security Council spokesperson, said that it reflects Russia’s morale problems 20 months into its invasion of Ukraine.
Evidence of Russian war crimes in Ukraine have been presented to German prosecutors as a campaign to use the principle of universal jurisdiction gets underway to bring war criminals to justice.
The cases were filed on Thursday by the Clooney Foundation for Justice, which was founded by Amal and George Clooney.
Russian lawmakers have backed a record increase in military spending to finance the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine, with defence spending expected to account for nearly a third of all expenditures in 2024, an increase of 68 per cent to RUB 10.8 trillion (EUR 109 billion).
Finland has said that it is working with Beijing to learn more about a Chinese vessel that is reportedly linked to damage of an undersea gas pipeline, according to Prime Minister Petteri Orpo.
The Finnish police have recovered an anchor believed to be from the Chinese vessel, which appears to have caused damage to a pipeline connecting Finland to Estonia earlier this month.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has said that he is proud to keep communications open with Moscow after other EU leaders reacted with anger at his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin last month.
Orban said: “We keep open all the communication lines to the Russians. Otherwise, there will be no chance for peace.”
He added: “This is a strategy. So we are proud of it.”
Slovakia’s new populist Prime Minister Robert Fico has announced that he is ending military aid to Ukraine.
A court in Stockholm has acquitted Sergei Skvortsov, a 60-year-old Russian-Swede who was accused of passing Western technology to the Russian military.
The court ruled that while Skvortsov, who has lived in Sweden since the 1990s and runs import-export companies, did export the materials, the actions did not constitute intelligence gathering.
