Combat footage circulating online appears to show two Russian soldiers mistakenly firing on one another as Moscow’s war in Ukraine quickly slips into its second full winter.
The graphic night-time footage shows two soldiers exchanging fire, with one fighter then collapsing before an explosion goes off close to the second soldier.
It is not clear when, nor where the video was filmed and Newsweek cannot independently verify the clip. The Russian defense ministry has been contacted for comment via email.
Throughout the war in Ukraine, unverified and inaccurate footage has cropped up on social media. Footage can be used as an effective propaganda tool for both sides, spreading quickly online.
Ukraine started its concerted pushback against Russian forces along the southern and eastern front lines in early June, hoping to make sweeping gains before harsher and muddier fall and winter conditions set in.
But despite creeping advances along points of the front lines, significant victories have been slow to materialize for Kyiv’s fighters.
However, Ukrainian forces likely advanced in western Zaporizhzhia and close to the devastated, Russian-controlled eastern city of Bakhmut on October 9 “amid reports of deteriorating weather conditions in Ukraine,” the Institute for the Study of War think tank said in its latest assessment.
“Exact conditions likely vary along the frontline, though weather conditions are generally worsening,” the think tank added.
Poor weather complicates operations for both sides, from aerial reconnaissance to mechanized maneuvers.
Ukrainian soldiers “repelled” four Russian attacks close to the Donetsk village of Klishchiivka, the Ukrainian General Staff said on Tuesday. Kyiv said it had recaptured Klishchiivka, a small settlement near Bakhmut, in mid-September.
“The Ukrainian defense forces continue their assault operations south of Bakhmut,” Kyiv’s military added in a statement posted to social media, saying Ukraine had “partial success” close to Andriivka. The village, around six miles southwest of Bakhmut, was retaken by Ukraine in September, Kyiv’s military previously said.
On Monday, Russia’s defense ministry said its “Southern” grouping of forces had taken out up to 140 Ukrainian soldiers, three armored combat vehicles and two cars in Donetsk, including around Klishchiivka and Andriivka.
Over the course of Monday, there were 39 combat engagements between Russian and Ukrainian forces, the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday.
Russia launched a host of Shahed suicide drones on Ukraine overnight, the General Staff added, saying it had recorded 36 Shahed “kamikaze” drone strikes.
Moscow launched the strikes from eastern Crimea, and air defenses downed 27 of the drones over the southern Ukrainian regions of Odesa, Mykolaiv and Kherson, Kyiv’s air force said in a statement on Tuesday.
Shahed drones quickly became a prominent feature of Russian strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure in the early days of the war, and Moscow often deploys them for overnight attacks.
The Iranian-designed loitering munitions “have been a core element of Russia’s campaign of long-range strikes into Ukraine,” the British defense ministry said on Monday.