Advancement of units of the Airborne Troops during the offensive. (Ministry of Defense of Russia/Zenger)
Russia has released images that purport to show airborne troops advancing in Ukraine during its ongoing invasion of the country.
The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD), which said that the images are “footage of the advancement of units of the Airborne Troops during the offensive.”
The images show various military vehicles, including tanks and armored personnel carriers, as well as artillery units, some of them sporting the letter ‘V’ daubed in white paint, driving along dirt roads.
The ‘V’, and to a greater extent the ‘Z’, have become symbols of the war in Ukraine, with numerous military vehicles seen sporting them. The ‘Z’ has become a symbol used by those who support the Russian operation in Ukraine.
Other military vehicles can be seen standing guard by the side of the dirt track. It is currently unclear where the images were filmed and they have not been independently verified, but combat is raging in eastern Ukraine over the Donbas region.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. June 2 marks the 99th day of the campaign.
From February 24 to June 2, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 30,850 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,363 tanks, 3,354 armored fighting vehicles, 661 artillery systems, 207 multiple launch rocket systems, 95 anti-aircraft systems, 210 warplanes, 175 helicopters, 2,325 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 vessels, 521 unmanned aerial vehicles, 51 units of special equipment, and 120 cruise missiles.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called Russian strikes on a nitric acid tank in the besieged eastern city of Sievierodonetsk “madness”. Residents of Sievierodonetsk have been warned to remain in bomb shelters and to prepare masks to protect against toxic fumes as the fighting intensifies.
Analysts say up to 70 percent of the city is now controlled by invading Russian forces, with almost all critical infrastructure and housing destroyed.
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) said in a statement on Wednesday, June 1 at 6 a.m., that the Yars mobile missile systems, which can carry nuclear warheads and which boast a reported range of over 10,000 kilometers (6,200 miles), were performing “intensive maneuvering operations on combat patrol routes in the Ivanovo Region”, east of the Russian capital Moscow.
This comes after United States President Joe Biden said he will send Kyiv more advanced rocket systems that will help to strike enemy forces from a longer distance. These rocket systems have double the range of the rocket systems used by Russian forces and are said to be much more accurate.
