Footage has shown a Ukrainian paratrooper striking a Russian tank from distance, blowing up the armoured vehicle. The soldier can be seen lying down over the crest of a muddy bank, aiming at a Russian tank several hundred metres away. Concealed on the floor, the soldier fires an FGM-148 Javelin at the enemy vehicle, which then explodes into a fireball before erupting into a cloud of smoke.
The paratrooper is lying alongside two other soldiers, one of whom clutches a sniper to scout out the tank’s movements.
The pinpoint hit strikes another blow for Russian President Vladimir Putin, whose offensive in Ukraine has been beset by tactical failures and heavy artillery losses.
The most recent estimates by Ukrainian military officials suggest Russia has lost more than 1,200 tanks and a quarter of their tactical battalions.
As Russia fails to salvage some semblance of victory from their retreat to the eastern regions of Ukraine, further tanks, emblazoned with the letter Z, have succumbed to Ukrainian attack.
While the focus has steered temporarily towards Finland’s declaration of intent to join NATO, more than doubling the alliance’s border with Russia, Ukrainian forces have continued to repel Putin’s army.
Reports emerged yesterday that almost an entire Russian tactical battalion group had been destroyed in one day last weekend.
More than 70 tanks and armoured vehicles were estimated to have been immobilised, as well as possibly 1,000 soldiers killed in a single set of strikes by Ukrainian forces.
The devastating attack happened on the banks of the Siverskyi Donest river in eastern Ukraine after an explosive ordnance disposal officer called Maxim coordinated strikes on a Russian-built pontoon bridge as the enemy forces were attempting to cross.
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Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock said after the meeting that the G7 had a “global responsibility” to “mitigate” against Putin’s aggressive invasion.
She said: “Have we done enough to mitigate the consequences of this war? It is not our war. It’s a war by the president of Russia, but we have global responsibility.”
Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, a close ally of Vladimir Putin, dismissed the meeting, especially the group’s insistence that the integrity of Ukraine’s internationally recognised borders be recognised.
He said in an online post: “Let’s put it mildly: our country does not care at all about the G7 not recognising the new borders. What is important is the true will of the people living there.”