This footage purports to show an S-300 anti-aircraft system firing a missile to provide air cover for Russian troops in Ukraine.

The images were obtained from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Thursday, September 15, along with a statement claiming: 'S-300V crews of the anti-aircraft missile formation of the Central Military District are on combat duty to cover the Russian group of troops and settlements from air attack weapons of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.'

The Russian MoD added: 'The S-300V anti-aircraft missile system makes it possible to detect ballistic and aerodynamic missiles, airplanes, helicopters, as well as unmanned vehicles in the entire altitude range from 20 to 25 thousand meters and is guaranteed to hit air targets at a distance of more than 200 kilometers in any weather conditions.

'The detection and tracking of air targets is provided by a radar station (RLS), which is part of the air defense system, it takes the bearing of the target, calculates its location, height and distance. Radar information is sent to the command post, where a decision is made on the destruction of air targets and target designation is issued to the crews of air defense launchers.

'The command of the Central Military District notes the high efficiency of the S-300V air defense crews, which provide air cover for a group of troops in the NVO zone.'

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24 in what the Kremlin is still calling a 'special military operation'.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that between February 24 and September 15, Russia had lost about 53,850 personnel, 2,193 tanks, 4,682 armoured combat vehicles, 1,295 artillery units, 311 multiple launch rocket systems, 167 air defence systems, 250 warplanes, 215 helicopters, 908 drones, 233 cruise missiles, 15 warships, 3,522 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, and 120 units of special equipment.

Russia has claimed that its casualties have been much lower but provides infrequent updates on its latest figures.

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky was reportedly involved in a traffic accident in Kyiv but is not seriously hurt, according to his spokesperson Serhii Nykyforov.

Nykyforov said: 'The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were found.' He added that the driver of the other vehicle was given emergency aid and put in an ambulance.

Zelensky said in his nightly address last night, on Wednesday, September 14, after returning from the Kharkiv region, where Ukrainian troops have carried out a lightning advance to push back invading Russian forces, that 'almost the entire region is de-occupied'.

President Zelensky also said: 'It was an unprecedented movement of our soldiers – the Ukrainians once again managed to do what many thought was impossible.'

He added that Ukraine's forces had so far recaptured approximately 8,000 square kilometres (3,100 square miles) of territory from the Russians.

Ukrainian officials have said that Russian missiles hit a reservoir dam near the southern Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih. Ukraine said that the strike was revenge by Russia over its recent lightning counteroffensive.

President Zelensky, who was born in Kryvyi Rih, labelled Russia a 'terrorist state' after the missile strikes on the Karachunivske reservoir.

Zelensky said, during his late-night address yesterday evening: 'You are weaklings who fight civilians.' He added: 'Scoundrels who, having escaped from the battlefield, are trying to do harm from somewhere far away.'

In light of Ukraine's dramatic gains in the past days, the Kremlin is now reportedly working hard to 'clear Putin of any responsibility for the defeat, instead blaming the loss of almost all of occupied Kharkiv Oblast on under-informed military advisors within Putin's circle', according to the Institute for the Study of War, a US-based think tank.

The Institute reportedly said in a statement released on the evening of Tuesday, September 13: 'Kremlin officials and state media propagandists are extensively discussing the reasons for the Russian defeat in Kharkiv Oblast, a marked change from their previous pattern of reporting on exaggerated or fabricated Russian successes with limited detail.'

The Institute noted a member of the Kremlin's Council for Interethnic Relations, Bogdan Bezpalko, as criticising Russia's military leaders who 'failed to see the concentration of Ukrainian troops and equipment and disregarded Telegram channels that warned of the imminent Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkiv Oblast should have their heads ‘lying on Putin's desk.'

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said on Wednesday that the prospect of peace in Ukraine is still currently “minimal” after a phone call with Vladimir Putin. This echoes German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's comments, who also said on Wednesday after a call with the Russian president: 'Sadly, I cannot tell you that the impression has grown that it was a mistake to begin this war.'