These images purport to show fresh Russian recruits training to use Kalashnikovs, rocket launchers and grenade launchers.
The images reportedly show Russian recruits learning how to use grenade launchers and rocket launchers before POV footage shows Russian soldiers manoeuvring and using Kalashnikovs.
The video then appears to show a recruit learning to pilot a drone.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Tuesday, 20th June, along with a statement claiming (in English): “Contract servicemen continue intensive training at Russian Defence Ministry ranges.
“Contract servicemen are practising firing skills with Kalashnikov machine guns, RPG-7V anti-tank grenade launchers, and 30mm AGS-17 Plamya automatic grenade launchers.
“In a specially equipped area, the soldiers learn the army tactical shooting.
“Under the guidance of experienced instructors, the contract servicemen practice countering sabotage and reconnaissance units on a daily basis and learn the basics of tactical medicine, engineering equipment, and UAV operations.”
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 483rd day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 21st June 2023, Russia had lost about 222,000 personnel, 4,006 tanks, 7,771 armoured combat vehicles, 3,920 artillery units, 615 multiple launch rocket systems, 375 air defence systems, 314 warplanes, 306 helicopters, 3,428 drones, 1,214 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 6,667 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 539 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
Russia has threatened missile strikes on Ukraine’s “decision-making centres” should Kyiv use missiles supplied by its Western allies to hit the occupied peninsula of Crimea.
The Russian Minister of Defence, Sergei Shoigu, said that if Ukraine used HIMARS supplied by the US or Storm Shadow missiles supplied by the United Kingdom on targets in Crimea, this would signal to Russia the West’s “full involvement in the conflict and would entail immediate strikes upon decision-making centres in Ukrainian territory”.
Ukrainian officials have said that Russia has hit a number of military and infrastructure targets in Kyiv overnight and in other parts of the country including western areas that are far from the frontlines.
The head of Ukraine’s military intelligence agency GUR, Kyrylo Budanov, has accused Russia of “mining” the cooling pond that is used to keep the reactors call at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, Europe’s largest, which is currently occupied by Russian forces.
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is reportedly set to announce a major package for Ukraine today that includes USD 3 billion of additional guarantees to unlock World Bank lending.
The announcement is set to take place on the first day of a summit in London that is geared towards encouraging reconstruction efforts in Ukraine.
Ahead of the conference in London, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said that the European Union will provide Ukraine with USD 54.58 billion between 2024 and 2027.
She said that the goal was to “provide predictable finance to Ukraine on its EU path, together with global partners and the private sector”.
But Mustafa Nayyem, the head of the Ukraine State Agency for Restoration and Infrastructure Development, said that his country would struggle to absorb the billions of dollars in private and public aid.
He said: “Historically the largest amount of money we have been capable of working with was USD 6 billion a year in 2014.”
The Pentagon has said that it has overestimated the value of the weapons it has been sending to Ukraine by USD 6.2 billion, which is approximately double the amount early estimates had predicted the surplus to be.
The surplus will reportedly be used for future American security packages to Ukraine.
Ukraine’s Environment Minister Ruslan Strilets has told his EU counterparts that the destruction of the Kakhovka hydroelectric dam has caused EUR 1.2 billion in damage.
He also said that mines unearthed by the flooding could wash up on other European countries’ shores, adding that “there are things that we can never restore.
“These are the ecosystems that were washed away into the Black Sea.”
