This footage allegedly shows Russian artillerymen destroying Ukrainian military positions using a ‘Rapira’ anti-tank gun.
In the footage, soldiers can be seen mounting projectiles onto the gun, and then launching them towards unseen targets.
The footage then cuts to what seems to be a ruined building where a few soldiers can be seen walking around.
It then cuts again to another shot purportedly showing the same building getting struck by artillery fire.
Another cutaway then shows soldiers exiting the ruins.
Finally, the clip cuts once again to show the building purportedly being fired upon again before the footage ends.
The images were obtained by Newsflash from the Russian Ministry of Defence on Friday, 14th April, along with a statement saying: “Artillery subunits of the Western Military District carry out fire missions to destroy artillery batteries of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, destroy defensive structures, suppress command posts, destroy fire weapons, ammunition depots, weapons and military equipment of the enemy.
“Crews of MT-12 Rapira anti-tank guns are in operation, with a firing rate of up to six rounds per minute and a firing range of more than seven kilometres when fully charged.
“The Rapira is designed to hit heavy armoured vehicles with direct fire.
“But if necessary, the 100-millimetre towed anti-tank gun can also cope with other targets.
“In one of the directions in the zone of the special military operation, the personnel of the artillery battery of the ‘Western’ group of troops inflicted a fire defeat on the area of accumulation of manpower.”
The MT-12 ‘Rapira’ is a Soviet-made towed anti-tank gun that uses long projectiles which are more powerful than its calibre suggests.
We have not been able to independently verify the footage or the claims.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 415th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 14th April 2023, Russia had lost about 181,090 personnel, 3,650 tanks, 7,069 armoured combat vehicles, 2,784 artillery units, 535 multiple launch rocket systems, 283 air defence systems, 307 warplanes, 293 helicopters, 2,339 drones, 911 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,640 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 321 units of special equipment.
Ukraine and Russia are to conduct separate investigations into a disturbing video that allegedly shows the beheading of a Ukrainian serviceman.
The footage is believed to have been filmed by Wagner Group mercenaries from Russia.
Ukraine denies Russia’s claim that its troops are blocking Ukrainian soldiers from leaving or entering the embattled city of Bakhmut.
According to Ukraine’s army, Russian troops are making daily attempts to surround the city from the north and the south.
According to Ukraine’s state nuclear plant operator, Energoatom, a Russian mine went off near the generator room of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station.
UN nuclear chief Rafael Grossi said that “we are living on borrowed time” after the explosion as concerns grow over the plant’s safety.
A 21-year-old man from the US Air Force National Guard – identified as Jack Teixeira – has been arrested by the FBI in connection with the leaked US defence documents.
Teixeira has been scheduled for a court appearance in the US State of Massachusetts on 14th April.
Officials in Norway said 15 Russian diplomats who were suspected of working as spies at the Russian embassy in Oslo would be expelled.
An arbitration court in the Hague has ordered Russia to pay a GBP-3.9 billion compensation for unlawfully expropriating Ukrainian assets in Crimea, according to Ukraine’s state-owned gas company Naftogaz.
The head of the International Monetary Fund said the world could be risking a new cold war with the increasing separation of the global economy into rival trading blocs.
