This footage shows a Russian infantry fighting vehicle now flying Ukrainian colours after it was reportedly captured by brave reservist troops while under tank and mortar fire.
The images show the originally Russian military vehicle sporting a white letter ‘Z’ daubed on it. But now it also flies Ukraine’s instantly recognisable blue and yellow national flag.
The footage, obtained from the Regional Directorate of the Territorial Defense Forces “East” of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Wednesday, 6th July, shows Ukrainian troops driving the vehicle, a BMP-3, at speed.
The BMP-3 was first introduced into military service by the Soviets in 1987. It is not unlike a light tank, with the version seen in the footage fitted with a turret and gun, and running on caterpillar tracks.
The Regional Directorate of the Territorial Defense Forces “East” said: “Fighters of one of the units of the Dnipropetrovsk Separate Brigade of the Territorial Defence Forces captured an abandoned enemy BMP-3 in the immediate area of enemy visibility. With a fight, while under mortar and tank fire. Gradually, our subordinate units are becoming mechanised.”
The footage was also relayed by the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces are made up of military reservists, soldiers who are primarily part-time and also have civilian occupations. Many are veterans. The Territorial Defense Forces were unofficially founded in 2014, after Russia annexed Crimea and conflict began with separatists in eastern Ukraine.
They existed in a semi-organised form from 2015 to 2021, but they were officially, formally organised into a unified force in 2022, with many reservists being called up for active duty as a result of Russia’s invasion.
The International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine, the foreign legion created by President Volodymyr Zelensky, is also under the command of the Territorial Defense Forces.
Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 134th day of the invasion.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 7th July, Russia had lost about 36,650 personnel, 1,602 tanks, 3,797 armoured combat vehicles, 815 artillery units, 247 multiple launch rocket systems, 107 air defence systems, 217 warplanes, 187 helicopters, 667 drones, 155 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 2,665 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 66 units of special equipment.
Russian forces are intensifying their attacks in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. Civilians are fleeing Sloviansk as Russian forces push towards the city. This comes after the Donetsk regional governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, urged 350,000 civilians to evacuate the area.
British intelligence has said that the battle for Sloviansk will probably be the next key target for Russian forces. The UK Ministry of Defence said that Russian forces “from the Eastern and Western Groups of Forces are likely now around 16 kilometres north from the town of Sloviansk. With the town also under threat from the Central and Southern Groups of Forces, there is a realistic possibility that the battle for Sloviansk will be the next key contest in the struggle for the Donbas.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that heavy weapons from Ukraine’s western allies have finally started working at “full capacity” on the frontlines, with Ukraine’s General Staff denying Russian claims that two US-supplied HIMARS light multiple rocket launchers had been destroyed. They instead said that the weapons were being used to inflict “devastating blows” on the invading forces.
Luhansk’s regional governor Serhiy Haidai has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of carrying out a scorched earth policy, “burning down and destroying everything on their way” as resistance remains strong in villages around the city of Lysychansk, which recently fell to Russian forces.
The Russian parliament is rushing through two new bills to impose strict controls on the country’s economy and require that businesses supply the armed forces.
The United Nations has said that nearly 9 million people have now left Ukraine since the beginning of Russia’s invasion. Ukraine’s Prosecutor General Iryna Venediktova has said that the country is investigating over 21,000 Russian war crimes committed since the beginning of the invasion.
A court in Russia has ordered the suspension of Kazakh oil exports to the West for a month. Russia controls the Novorossiisk Black Sea oil terminal where tankers are loaded with oil that transits, via a pipeline, from Kazakhstan’s Tengiz oilfield. Western sanctions have restricted Russia’s oil and gas exports, increasing demand for producers like Kazakhstan.
But the President of Kazakhstan, Kassym-Jomart Tokayev, has refused to recognise the pro-Russian, so-called People’s Republic of Donetsk and the People’s Republic of Luhansk, in eastern Ukraine, and has also said that Kazakhstan might increase its oil exports to the European Union.
