Ukrainian Special Forces Snipers Take Out Russian Troops In Bakhmut Area

These images show Ukrainian special forces snipers taking out Russian soldiers in the Bakhmut area of eastern Ukraine.

The footage, which appears to have been shot at night, shows a number of Russian soldiers being targeted by the Ukrainian snipers, causing them to either fall to the ground after being hit or to flee.

The images were obtained from the 8th Special Purpose Regiment named after Prince Izyaslav Mstislavich of the Ukrainian Special Operations Forces (SSO) on Wednesday, 11th January, along with a statement saying: "Snipers of the SSO of Ukraine destroy the occupiers in the direction of Bakhmut.

"As you know, the enemy near Bakhmut is constantly trying to get closer to the positions of the soldiers of the Defence Forces and capture them.

"This happens both day and night. However, SSO snipers destroy the enemy with accurate fire, which is not helped by the darkness or attempts to hide."

The images and statement were also relayed by the Command of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a "special military operation". Today marks the 322nd day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February and 11th January, Russia had lost about 112,960 personnel, 3,094 tanks, 6,159 armoured combat vehicles, 2,078 artillery units, 437 multiple launch rocket systems, 217 air defence systems, 285 warplanes, 275 helicopters, 1,862 drones, 723 cruise missiles, 17 warships, 4,826 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 184 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.

The leader of the Russian mercenary organisation Wagner has claimed that his forces have taken control of the Ukrainian town of Soledar.

Yevgeny Prigozhin said: “Wagner units have taken the whole territory of Soledar under control.”

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky has thanked the "heroic" defenders of the town but did not provide any new information about the military situation on the ground.

US and Ukrainian officials have said that Russia's artillery fire has dropped by up to 75 per cent in some places on the battlefield, indicating a weakening of the Russian position in the conflict.

Western officials have said that Ukraine cannot retake significant swathes of territory from Moscow without a boost to its military capability, including tanks.

One Western official said on Tuesday that the Russian and Ukrainian forces are too closely matched for Kyiv to be able to launch a major offensive.

They said that a request from Ukraine for 300 tanks was “not an unreasonable number” in order to be able to launch an offensive against Russia’s forces.

US officials have said that Ukrainian troops are to begin training to use the Patriot missile system in the US as early as next week.

The training programme is reportedly expected to take “several months”.