This footage allegedly shows Russian choppers daubed with the infamous ‘Z’ symbol blasting what is claimed to be a “cluster” of Ukrainian armoured vehicles to smithereens.

Newsflash obtained the footage from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Russian Federation early this morning (Friday, 25th March), with the MoD describing the clip as allegedly showing “the destruction of a stronghold of Ukrainian nationalists”.

The commander of the crew that carried out the operation, named only as Mikhail, told Russian media: “I brought a group of helicopters to a given line. We carried out an attack with guided missiles. Then I decided to change position and also launch an attack on the enemy’s stronghold, where there was a cluster of lightly armoured vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, armoured vehicles, and manpower, using unguided aviation missiles.

“All targets were destroyed, thus we did not allow the enemy to operate in this area in our battalion tactical group. The distinctive feature was that the weather was driven by fog and poor visibility. But the feeling that if I did not complete the task, then people would die, pushed me to work to the fullest, so that people would be alive and our army could move on.”

It is not clear whereabouts in Ukraine the footage was filmed.

The Kremlin and Russian state-controlled media have frequently referred to the Ukrainians as “nationalists” who are engaged in a “genocide” against ethnic Russians and native Russian speakers in Ukraine.

David Zionts, an international lawyer representing Ukraine at the International Court of Justice in The Hague has said that “Russia has provided no evidence for genocide in the course of this conflict”.

The apparently spurious “genocide” claim is one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s justifications for having launched what he has dubbed a “special military operation” in Ukraine on 24th February.

Others have claimed that his invasion is really motivated by post-Soviet irredentism.

According to the Oryx Blog, the Ukrainian Armed Forces have had 536 military vehicles or pieces of equipment destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured since the invasion began.

That figure rises to 1,795 for the Russian Armed Forces, but the blog only records losses for which there is visual evidence, meaning that the true figures on both sides are probably considerably higher.

The Oryx Blog is run by “Stijn Mitzer and Joost Oliemans, two military analysts devoted to investigating and sharing the ins and outs of conflict research, open-source intelligence and the occasional obscure piece of military history”.

The attack helicopters seen in the footage are reportedly Kamov Ka-52 ‘Alligators’, which are manufactured by JSC Kamov, which is headquartered in Lyubertsy, Moscow Oblast, Russia.

The Russians have been daubing their military equipment with the letter ‘Z’ to distinguish it from the Ukrainians’ equipment. The letter has since become a symbol of support for the invasion in Russia.

The Russian Armed Forces have occupied swathes of northern, eastern and southern Ukraine over the course of the invasion so far. However, they have not achieved the quick takeover of the country that Mr Putin is believed to have been expecting, and major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa still remain in Ukrainian hands.

There has also been recent evidence showing that the Ukrainians have been pushing the Russians back in some areas.