This footage purports to show Russian squaddies clearing occupied land in Ukraine of mines in controlled blasts.

The clip comes as Russian forces shell other areas of the country, resulting in fatalities.

Newsflash obtained the footage from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) of the Russian Federation last night (Thursday, 26th May).

The Russian MoD said the clip showed “demining of settlements in Kharkov Oblast”.

The focus of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is now firmly on the eastern Donbas region. However, Russian troops are also currently occupying swathes of northern and eastern Kharkiv (Ukrainian spelling) Oblast, where the footage was allegedly filmed.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Donbas could be left uninhabited by the invasion and accused Russia of carrying out a genocide in the region.

The city of Sievierodonetsk is currently suffering an onslaught of Russian shelling and there are reports of three explosions overnight in the city of Dnipro.

The death toll from shelling in Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv yesterday has now reached nine people, including a baby.

And President Zelenskyy said last night that lives are lost in Ukraine every moment the West delays putting more pressure on Russia.

His foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said Ukraine would not be able to counter the Russian offensive without more heavy weapons.

US officials said the Biden administration was considering supplying Ukraine with the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System.

The maximum firing range of the light multiple rocket launcher developed in the late 1990s for the United States Army is 186 miles.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported earlier today that from 24th February to 27th May, Russia had lost about 29,750 troops in addition to 1,322 tanks, 3,246 armoured fighting vehicles, 623 artillery systems, 201 multiple launch rocket systems, 93 air defence systems, 206 warplanes, 170 helicopters, 503 unmanned aerial vehicles, 115 cruise missiles, 13 warships, 2,226 military vehicles and fuel tankers, and 48 units of special equipment.

While the Russian MoD reported earlier today that over the same period, Ukraine had lost 179 warplanes, 127 helicopters, 1,019 unmanned aerial vehicles, 323 air defence systems, 3,266 tanks and armoured fighting vehicles, 433 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,682 artillery systems, and 3,190 military vehicles.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what Russian President Vladimir Putin initially called a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine.

The Kremlin is still calling it a “special military operation” but now says the goal is to “protect Donbass”. Today marks the 93rd day of the invasion.