Footage shows Russian howitzers blowing up Ukrainian targets in and around a grove of trees in a field.

The Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) released the footage on June 16.

The Russian MoD said: ‘Combat operation of Western MD's [Military District] Msta-S self-propelled howitzer crews the during fire missions to destroy AFU [Armed Forces of Ukraine] camouflaged fortified positions within the special military operation.

‘Orlan-10 unmanned aerial vehicle crews uncovered camouflaged fortified positions near a forest belt.

‘After receiving target coordinates and reconnaissance data, a battery of 152mm Msta-S self-propelled guns struck.'

The Russian MoD did not specify where in Ukraine the strike took place.

The 2S19 Msta is a 152.4mm self-propelled howitzer designed by the Soviet Union. It entered service in 1989 and its operators also include the Ukrainian military.

The Orlan-10 is a reconnaissance, unmanned aerial vehicle developed by the Special Technology Center in Saint Petersburg for the Russian Armed Forces. It was introduced in 2011.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is calling a ‘special military operation' to ‘liberate the Donbass'.

In a briefing, the Russian MoD said that between February 24 and June 16, ‘204 Ukrainian airplanes and 131 helicopters, 1,218 unmanned aerial vehicles, 340 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,569 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 526 multiple launch rocket systems, 1,968 field artillery and mortars, as well as 3,647 units of special military vehicles were destroyed'.

In related news, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi have arrived in Kyiv for talks. They are hoping to rebut what has been perceived as their lukewarm support for Ukraine.

Meanwhile, Washington has told China it risks ending up on the ‘wrong side of history' following Chinese President Xi Jinping's assurance to Russian President Vladimir Putin that Beijing supports Russian ‘sovereignty'.

Thousands of civilians remain trapped in the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, where the water supply is reported to be dwindling. Hundreds of civilians are taking shelter in the bunkers beneath the city's Azot chemical plant.

Luhansk Oblast governor Serhiy Haidai said earlier this week that all three bridges into Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed, making delivering supplies and evacuating civilians impossible.

United States President Joe Biden has promised Kyiv another USD 1 billion in security assistance and weapons. And US General Mark Milley says Russia has lost around 20 to 30 per cent of its armoured force during the ongoing invasion.