This is the moment Russian troops use the mighty Tor-M2U missile system to blast a Ukrainian target.
The Tor-M2U air defence system can destroy planes, helicopters, drones and short-range ballistic threats.
The Russian MoD said on 18th May: “Personnel of the combat crews of the ‘Tor-M2U’ tactical anti-aircraft missile systems performed tasks during the special military operation.
“The air defence system knows every ‘air enemy’ by sight, including planes, helicopters, cruise and ballistic missiles, as well as unmanned aerial vehicles.
“SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) can hit almost all types of aircraft within their range of altitude.”
In related news, the Russian MoD says 959 Ukrainian fighters from the Azovstal metallurgical plant have been taken to Russian-controlled territory since Monday.
Kyiv is calling for a prisoner swap for the evacuated soldiers. Moscow says they will be treated according to international norms.
The evacuation appears to mark the fall of the strategic port city of Mariupol, completing Russia’s land bridge to Crimea and giving it control of the Sea of Azov.
Meanwhile, the first war crimes trial in Ukraine – of Russian soldier Vadim Shishimarin, who stands accused of killing an unarmed civilian – will resume in Kyiv.
And UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has hailed a “historic day” after Finland and Sweden officially applied to join NATO.
Though most of the existing NATO nations have welcomed their applications, Turkey is currently opposing them.
This is because Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan accuses Helsinki and Stockholm of harboring Kurdish militants he considers “terrorists”.
Russia claims that in total, 172 Ukrainian aircraft and 125 helicopters, 927 unmanned aerial vehicles, 311 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,139 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 389 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,548 field artillery and mortars, as well as 2,997 units of special military vehicles were destroyed during the operation.
