🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Ukrainian special forces hit Russian troops with mortar fire after they were found to be occupying civilian buildings, as is purportedly seen in images released by the Ukrainian military.
It is currently unclear where exactly in Ukraine the images were filmed but they were obtained Wednesday from the Office of Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
StratCom said that the Russian soldiers were taken out by the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO), which is a branch of the military that is made up exclusively of Spetsnaz - special forces - troops.
The SSO is typically tasked with carrying out operations that involve gathering intelligence, undertaking special reconnaissance missions, performing acts of sabotage and conducting psychological warfare.
Zenger News contacted the StratCom of the Armed Forces of Ukraine for further comment, as well as the Russian Ministry of Defense, but had not received a reply at the time of writing.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is calling a "special military operation." Thursday marks the 141st day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and July 14, Russia had lost about 37,870 personnel, 1,667 tanks, 3,852 armored combat vehicles, 840 artillery units, 247 multiple launch rocket systems, 109 air defense systems, 219 warplanes, 188 helicopters, 681 drones, 155 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,720 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 67 units of special equipment.
Other developments in the Russia-Ukraine war:
Turkey, Ukraine, Russia and the United Nations have concluded a deal to resume exporting Ukrainian grain, with a monitoring and coordination center being set up in Istanbul.
A traffic jam made up of more than 130 cargo ships that are loaded with Ukrainian grain is waiting in the Black Sea to pass into the Danube River.
Grain shipments via the River Danube have increased, with a canal being reopened. An increased number of foreign ships are now able to reach Ukrainian ports to help export grain.
Ukraine's foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, has ruled out giving any territory to Russia as part of any ceasefire deal.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that Russia has forcibly removed nearly 2 million people from the country. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken called for an immediate halt to Russian deportations of Ukrainian citizens.
The British Ministry of Defense has said that "the urban areas of Slovyansk and Kramatorsk likely remain the principal objectives" of the Russian forces in eastern Ukraine.
In a reversal of policy, Lithuania's foreign ministry has said that it will allow sanctioned Russian goods to transit through its territory on their way to Russia's Kaliningrad exclave.
This story was provided to Newsweek by Zenger News.
