Russian troops run for cover as 'Ukraine forces mortar enemy positions' in Mariupol

These images appear to show mortar fire from the Azov Regiment destroying Russian forces in south-eastern Ukraine, with the battalion boasting about sparing the building next to the enemy troops.

Azov slammed Vladimir Putin's forces for their apparent wanton violence, accusing them of destroying entire cities in Ukraine.

The images appear to be shot from the sky and are focused on what appear to be Russian positions in bombed-out Mariupol, in south-eastern Ukraine. The camera zooms in before there is a sudden explosion, reportedly caused by a single shot from a mortar.

A mortar is a lightweight, portable weapon, made up of a tube that fires explosive shells.

The footage then ends with smoke seen emerging from the area of impact.

The footage emerges amid signs that the Ukrainians are beginning to go on the counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces.

The Azov Regiment, which said that it had managed to take out multiple Russian forces with just one, well-aimed mortar shot: "Mortars of the Azov Regiment continue to destroy enemies. Defenders of Mariupol shot one armoured fighting vehicle and three trucks of the occupiers with a mortar shot."

It added: "Unlike the Russians, who are destroying cities to the ground, our mortars are aiming without destroying housing infrastructure.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called the increase in European security a "necessary response to the new reality".

NATO, the G7, and the European Union all meet today in Brussels. It will also be the first time that a US president will attend a European Union summit, with Joe Biden making the trip across the Atlantic to attend all three meetings.

Stoltenberg, said at a press conference yesterday evening (Wednesday) that the NATO meeting is a "pivotal moment for our security".

He added: "President Putin's brutal invasion of Ukraine is causing death and destruction every day."

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 come a day after a man allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail at the Kremlin in Moscow.

The Azov Regiment, also known as the Azov Battalion, is a notorious group of soldiers who were officially incorporated into the National Guard of Ukraine in 2014, after recapturing Mariupol from pro-Russian separatists in June that year.

The Azov Regiment began as a far-right, neo-Nazi group that started out as an urban militia and a political party that has since expanded and, through service to Ukraine, has been incorporated into the Armed Forces. Azov, on a national level, failed in past elections to win any seats in the Ukrainian parliament via its political branch.

But Putin appears to have capitalised on the presence of this group in eastern Ukraine to announce his so-called "special military operation" to "de-Nazify Ukraine", apparently painting the whole country with the same brush as this regiment, despite Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky being Jewish and the descendant of a man who lost his three siblings to the Nazis.

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