This footage purports to show an S-300 missile system fielded by the Ukrainian Armed Forces being obliterated in what the Russians have called a precision strike.

Newsflash obtained the footage from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Russian Federation this morning (Thursday, 24th March).

The Russian MoD said: “Footage of objective monitoring of the destruction of the anti-aircraft missile system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine by high-precision munitions.

“The position of the air defence system of the Armed Forces of Ukraine was established using an unmanned aerial vehicle. The blow was delivered by Krasnopol high-precision artillery ammunition.

“An accurate hit was provided by a UAV that carried out laser guidance.”

The missile system is not discernible at the start of the footage, with only the resulting fireball from the precision strike visible.

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

The Oryx Blog reported earlier today that the Ukrainian Armed Forces have so far had 520 vehicles or equipment destroyed, damaged, abandoned or captured during the ongoing invasion.

The blog puts the equivalent number for the Russian Armed Forces at 1,783.

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 blog only records losses for which there is visual evidence, meaning the true numbers may be even higher.

According to the Ukrainian authorities, the Russian Armed Forces had lost nearly 15,800 personnel, 530 main battle tanks, 1,597 armoured combat vehicles, 280 artillery units, 82 MLR systems, 47 air defence systems, 108 warplanes, 124 helicopters, 1,033 military vehicles, four vessels, 72 fuel tank trucks, 50 operational and tactical-level UAVs, and 16 units of special equipment as of yesterday (Wednesday, 23rd March).

Due to the difficulties in collecting accurate information from conflict zones, these figures have not yet been independently verified.

According to the Missile Defense Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank based in Washington, D.C.: “The S-300 is a family of Russian-made surface-to-air missile (SAM) systems capable of engaging aircraft and UAVs in addition to providing some cruise and ballistic missile defense capability.” The S-300 has been described as “highly capable”.

The 2K25 Krasnopol is a guided artillery shell manufactured by the KBP Instrument Design Bureau, headquartered in Tula, Russia.

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on 24th February, the Russian Armed Forces have managed to occupy swathes of the north, east and south of the country. However, they have not achieved the quick takeover of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin is believed to have been expecting, and major cities such as Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa remain in Ukrainian hands. There is also recent evidence suggesting that the Ukrainians have driven the Russians out of some areas.

There are signs that Ukraine is beginning to go on the counteroffensive as NATO estimates that between 7,000 and 15,000 Russian troops have now been killed. These numbers emerge a day after a man allegedly threw a burning Molotov cocktail at the Kremlin in the Russian capital, Moscow.