In the new video — footage from the action cameras of the 12th Special Forces Brigade Azov fighters, taken in recently liberated positions.
When the assault ends, the toughest stage begins — holding the positions taken from the enemy.Danger awaits around every corner of the destroyed trenches. Meanwhile, the enemy continues shelling and attempting counterattacks.In such conditions, the Azov fighters undergo their most challenging rotations after the assault. Days during which they must survive, save their comrades, and destroy the enemy.
The footage, released by Ukraine’s Azov Regiment on Telegram, was shot using a night-vision camera operated by a soldier from the 12th Special Forces Brigade, who appears to have killed several Russian soldiers at close range during the daring attack.The group “conducted a raid on the enemy’s rear. The video shows unique footage of the aggressors being destroyed in close combat,” the brigade wrote in a caption accompanying the clip.It is unclear when or where the footage was filmed. Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.The Kiev military said in a February 19 update that Russia had lost 1,290 soldiers in a single day — Moscow’s largest reported loss of the year.As part of its daily update on the war, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted figures on Russian troop and equipment losses. Moscow lost 1,290 soldiers in the past 24 hours, according to the latest Russian military casualty figures — bringing the total to 403,720.
The update said Russia has also lost a total of 6,498 tanks, 12,232 armored fighting vehicles, 9,733 artillery systems and 336 military jets in the ongoing war. Newsweek could not independently verify Kiev’s figures.Estimates of the number of casualties vary, with Ukraine’s toll often exceeding that of its Western allies. Moscow rarely shares information about the number of casualties it has suffered in the war.In September 2022, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said 5,937 Moscow soldiers had been killed since the war began. The Defense Ministry has since reported the death toll three more times, confirming a further 162 soldiers killed, the BBC reported.
Like Moscow, Kiev has not provided updated information on its war casualties. A leaked US Defense Intelligence Agency assessment in April 2023 said Ukraine had suffered between 124,500 and 131,000 casualties, including 15,500 to 17,500 deaths.
Shoigu said in December 2023 that Ukraine had lost more than 383,000 troops since the war began. Newsweek could not independently verify the figures.
The Institute for the Study of War said in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Sunday that Moscow’s forces were currently conducting at least three offensive attempts, including near the key village of Robotyne in southern Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia. area, where Kiev said it had held off a wave of Russian attacks.
On February 18, the Center for Strategic Communications of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a Telegram post that Russian troops had “tried 10 times without success” to attack their positions in Robotyne.
Elsewhere, in the fortress town of Avdiivka in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, Kiev said its forces had retreated after months of fighting. Russia said it had taken full control of the area.
