These images show Ukrainian air defence forces shooting down incoming Russian drones during a night attack, with the Ukrainian side saying they had taken out 24 out of 29 drones.
They said that the footage shows an S-125 air defence system protecting Ukraine’s skies from the Russian drones.
The footage shows a missile being fired by the Ukrainian air defence system and shooting off into the night sky before apparently hitting its target.
The images then show a second and third missile being fired and also apparently hitting their targets.
The images were obtained from Air Command ‘South’ of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Thursday, 5th October, along with a statement saying: “Night combat work of anti-aircraft soldiers of Air Command ‘South’ on 5th October 2023.
“The video shows the combat operation of the S-125 air defence system.
“Together to victory!”
The images were also relayed by the Office of Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine along with a statement saying: “The Commander of the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleschuk, shared footage of the combat work of the air defence forces, namely the S-125 air defence system of the units of Air Command ‘South’.
“The repelling of a nighttime attack by strike UAVs took place on 5th October 2023, during which 24 out of 29 air targets were shot down.”
The S-125 Neva is a Soviet-era surface-to-air missile system that was first developed in the early 1960s.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 590th day of the full-scale war.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 6th October 2023, Russia had lost about 281,090 personnel, 4,777 tanks, 9,082 armoured combat vehicles, 6,666 artillery units, 806 multiple launch rocket systems, 540 air defence systems, 315 warplanes, 316 helicopters, 5,158 drones, 1,530 cruise missiles, 20 warships, 1 submarine, 9,015 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 951 units of special equipment.
Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.
At least 51 people, including a six-year-old boy, were killed in a missile attack on a cafe during a wake in the village of Hroza, in the Kharkiv region of north-eastern Ukraine on Thursday, 5th October.
Following the attack, Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, accused Russia of “genocidal aggression”.
He added that the attack was a “completely deliberate act of terrorism”.
European leaders have voiced their support for Ukraine while the United States faces a crisis over defence funding.
Leaders including British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, French President Emmanuel Macron, and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, took the opportunity at the European Political Community summit in Granada, Spain, to say they continued support for Ukraine.
Following Russia’s deadly strikes on Ukraine on Thursday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said that her country will “do everything possible” so that Kyiv can protect itself from Russian aggression.
She said: “More than 50 people dead in Hrosa.”
She added: “As long as bombs hail on supermarkets and cafes, we do everything for Ukraine to protect itself from Putin’s missile terror.”
The Biden administration is reportedly thinking about using a State Department grant programme to send additional military aid to Ukraine while the US Congress continues to feud over weapons funding.
Slovakia has said that it will not send further military aid to Ukraine for the time being.
The decision will be delayed until a new government has been formed following elections last week that resulted in victory for the populist, pro-Russian politician Robert Fico.
He had campaigned on a promise to end military aid to Ukraine.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that his country has successfully tested the nuclear-powered, nuclear-capable Burevestnik strategic cruise missile and suggested that Moscow could resume nuclear testing for the first time in over 30 years.
Putin also suggested that the plane crash that killed the leader of the Wagner mercenary organisation, Yevgeny Prigozhin, in August, had been caused by hand grenades detonated inside the aircraft.
Putin said: “Fragments of hand grenades were found in the bodies of those killed in the crash. There was no external impact on the plane – this is already an established fact.”
