This slick official footage shows Ukrainian troops getting to grips with a British-made FH70 howitzer as they discharge it over a field in their embattled country.
Zenger News obtained the footage from Operational Command West (OC West) – a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces in western Ukraine with headquarters in Rivne – earlier on Friday, May 27.
OC West said (in English): “FH70 is already destroying the enemy.
“Our soldiers quickly master the latest weapons provided by partner countries, because they understand that artillerist and the gun in battle become one – a powerful and ferocious beast, ready to destroy the enemy who has come to their native land.”
The FH70 is a towed howitzer built by the United Kingdom, Germany and Italy. It entered service in 1978 and boasts an effective firing range of 15 to 18 miles.
It is not known how many FH70s the Armed Forces of Ukraine currently have at their disposal, but it is known the pieces they possess were supplied by Italy.
OC West did not specify where in Ukraine the footage was filmed.
In related news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Donbas could be left uninhabited by the ongoing invasion and accused Russia of carrying out a “genocide” in the region.
The city of Sievierodonetsk is currently suffering an onslaught of Russian shelling and there are reports of three explosions overnight in the city of Dnipro.
The death toll from shelling in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv on May 26 has now reached nine people, including a baby.
And President Zelenskyy said last night that lives are lost in Ukraine every moment the West delays putting more pressure on Russia.
His foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine would not be able to counter the Russian offensive without more heavy weapons.
US officials said the Biden administration is considering supplying Ukraine with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.
The maximum firing range of the light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army is 186 miles.
The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported earlier today that from February 24 to May 27, Russia had lost about 29,750 troops in addition to 1,322 tanks, 3,246 armored fighting vehicles, 623 artillery systems, 201 multiple launch rocket systems, 93 air defense systems, 206 warplanes, 170 helicopters, 503 unmanned aerial vehicles, 115 cruise missiles, 13 warships, 2,226 military vehicles and fuel tankers, and 48 units of special equipment.
While the Russian MoD reported earlier today that over the same period, Ukraine had lost 179 warplanes, 127 helicopters, 1,019 unmanned aerial vehicles, 323 air defense systems, 3,266 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, 433 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,682 artillery systems, and 3,190 military vehicles.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what Russian President Vladimir Putin initially called a “special military operation” to “demilitarize and denazify” Ukraine.
The Kremlin is still calling it a “special military operation” but now says the goal is to “protect Donbass”. May 27 marks the 93rd day of the invasion.
