Russian MoD shows Su-34 fighter-bombers launching missiles at Ukrainian targets

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) released a video on Tuesday, April 19 claiming to be 'footage of combat missions of Su-34 fighter-bombers destroying military infrastructure facilities of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.'

The MoD added: 'Crews of the Russian Aerospace Force's operational and tactical aviation perform missions to detect and destroy enemy air and ground targets using a wide range of missile and bombing weapons.

'Fighter and bomber aircraft are on a mission to destroy military facilities of the AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] using high-precision missiles and guided munitions.

'In the course of combat sorties, the crews will also use air-to-surface guided high-precision X-29 missiles. They are designed to destroy enemy strongholds and fortified targets.'

The Kh-29 (Х-29 in Russian) is a Soviet air-to-surface missile with a range of 10 to 30 kilometres. The Russian MoD did not specify where the strikes or sorties took place.

Ukraine has lost 37 aircraft, helicopters or unmanned aerial vehicles over the course of the conflict so far, according to the Oryx Blog. The blog's corresponding figure for Russia is 91.

Ukraine has also lost 836 vehicles or equipment over the same period, according to the Oryx Blog. The blog's corresponding figure for Russia is 2,992.

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 lists losses for which there is visual evidence, meaning that the true figures on both sides are likely to be higher.

The footage comes as Russian forces embark upon their large-scale battle for Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.

The small city of Kreminna fell to Russian forces overnight from Sunday to Monday, with the Kremlin's sights now apparently set on key target Kramatorsk.

Recent Russian bombardments have killed at least 16 across several cities, Ukrainian officials are saying.

Seven reportedly died when several missiles struck the UNESCO-listed city of Lviv in western Ukraine, which had largely remained untouched since the invasion began.

More than 4.9 million residents have now fled the country due to the invasion, the United Nations is reporting.

Ukraine has handed in a questionnaire to the European Union in its bid to gain candidate status so it can fully join the bloc in the future.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is firmly opposed to Ukraine joining either the EU or NATO.

The invasion, which the Kremlin is calling a 'special military operation', began on February 25.

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