This footage purportedly shows artillery strikes wiping out eight Russian squaddies and two amphibious infantry fighting vehicles in a tree-lined field in Ukraine.

Newsflash obtained the video from the 98th Battalion of Territorial Defence Azov-Dnipro yesterday (Wednesday, 11th May).

It opens with three Russian troops disappearing into a narrow tree belt separating fields while two amphibious infantry fighting vehicles make a right turn.

The clip ends with plumes of smoke erupting around the tree belt as the forces’ positions are apparently shelled by their Ukrainian adversaries.

Azov-Dnipro said: “The orc’s body will lie in the ground!

“Team work of the artillery of the Armed Forces of Ukraine with TrO 98 ‘Azov’ Dnipro…

“Liquidated: two BMP2 units, 8 infantry orcs.

“Good viewing!”

Azov-Dnipro did not specify where in Ukraine the strikes took place.

The BMP-2 originated in the Soviet Union and has been in service since 1980. It has numerous operators, including both Russia and Ukraine.

From 24th February to 12th May, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 26,650 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,195 tanks, 2,873 armoured fighting vehicles, 534 artillery systems, 191 multiple launch rocket systems, 87 anti-aircraft systems, 199 warplanes, 161 helicopters, 2,019 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 vessels, 398 unmanned aerial vehicles, 41 units of special equipment and 94 cruise missiles.

The update comes as Finland, which shares an 830-mile border with Russia, looks poised to join NATO.

Before Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February, a minority of Finns supported NATO membership. Now, a majority do.

And Sweden, which shares a maritime border with Russia, may also follow suit.

Russia – whose president, Vladimir Putin, has spoken out time and again against NATO expansion – has threatened both countries with consequences if they do indeed join the military alliance.

Despite Finland and Sweden having not yet joined the alliance, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has already offered security guarantees to both nations.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Ukrainian forces have been repelling Russian troops from around the besieged country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv.

But both sides’ forces appear to be locked in stalemate in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region.

Elsewhere, the new authorities in the Russian-occupied city of Kherson have said that they plan to request formal annexation by Moscow.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has maintained that the war will only end when Ukraine recovers all its territories taken by Russia.

The invasion is now in its 78th day.