Ukrainian Artillery Blows Up Russian Command Post As Russians Abandon Wounded And Flee On Bike

This footage shows Ukrainian artillery blowing up a Russian command post, causing enemy soldiers to flee on a motorcycle and abandon their wounded.

The footage shows the command post being blown up in a huge explosion in a desolate urban setting, with most of the buildings in the area already destroyed.

Russian servicemen can then be seen attempting to rescue some of the soldiers but the area is targeted again, with footage then showing what appears to be a Russian soldier starting a motorbike with a sidecar and fleeing the scene, apparently abandoning a colleague who helped him get the bike started.

The images were obtained from the 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade named after the Knights of the First Winter Campaign of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on Tuesday, 31st January, along with a statement saying: "The 'Gods of War' are working - knight artillery.

"Gunners of the 28th Ombre [Separate Mechanized Brigade] together with the aerial reconnaissance battalion 'Freedom' of the 4th Brigade of the NSU [National Guard of Ukraine] destroyed a command post and ammunition of the Russian occupiers.

"The invaders were so frightened that they fled on a stolen motorcycle, leaving their wounded behind."

The images and statement were also relayed by the Office of Strategic Communications (StratCom) of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February 2022 in what the Kremlin is still calling a "special military operation". Today marks the 342nd day of the war.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between 24th February 2022 and 31st January 2023, Russia had lost about 127,500 personnel, 3,201 tanks, 6,378 armoured combat vehicles, 2,197 artillery units, 454 multiple launch rocket systems, 221 air defence systems, 293 warplanes, 284 helicopters, 1,951 drones, 796 cruise missiles, 18 warships, 5,048 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 200 units of special equipment.

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

US President Joe Biden said on Monday that the United States will not provide F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Andriy Yermak, one of Ukraine’s most senior presidential advisers, has suggested that Poland is willing to supply Kyiv with F-16 fighters.

But Mateusz Morawiecki, Poland’s Prime Minister, has said that his country would only act after consulting with NATO allies.

Russian forces claimed a series of territorial gains in the east of Ukraine on Monday. Russia also continued attacks on frontline positions near the eastern Ukrainian cities of Bakhmut and Donetsk.

Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky, has called for weapons to be supplied to his country faster. Zelensky said that Russia is hoping that the war will drag out and exhaust Ukraine’s ability to resist.

He added: “So we have to make time our weapon. We must speed up the events, speed up the supply and opening of new necessary weaponry options for Ukraine.”

Zelensky said that the situation in Bakhmut and Vuhledar was “very tough” and that the areas, as well as other parts of the Donetsk region were “under constant Russian attacks”.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov warned the West that supplying more weapons to Ukraine would lead to a “significant escalation” of the war, saying that Ukraine “demands more and more weapons” while NATO countries were “more and more becoming directly involved in the conflict”.

The Russian government has prohibited domestic oil exporters and customs bodies from submitting to western-imposed price caps on Russian crude.

The UK’s Minister of Defence, Ben Wallace, has said that the tanks donated to Ukraine will arrive on the frontline “this side of the summer”.