The Ukrainian Defense Ministry claimed on Thursday morning that Ukrainian forces captured two “Russian occupiers,” the first declared prisoners of war from the Russian invasion.
The Defense Ministry announcement bolstered earlier claims by a group of Russian bloggers opposed to the Kremlin called the Conflict Intelligence Team (CIT), which posted the same photographs, crediting them to a press officer for the Ukrainian military.
According to CIT, the prisoners belong to a Russian unit whose “tanks were noticed in the Belgorod region in the last day before the offensive, and today on the outskirts of Kharkov.” At the time of this writing, there has been no independent confirmation that the photos are genuine, and no firm identification of the soldiers.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces spokesman who provided the photos of the prisoners, Oleg Nikolenko, claimed the Russian invaders are suffering casualties and losing tanks in battle with Ukraine’s defenders:
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba also said the Russians are taking casualties against stubborn defense forces:
Ukrainian military sources said American-made Javelin anti-tank missiles were used to destroy some Russian armored vehicles.
Reuters on Thursday morning cited “unclear” reports that Russian troops have been captured by the Ukrainians in “heavy fighting in eastern Ukraine.” Reuters’ sources in the Ukrainian military did not specify how many prisoners were taken.