Ukrainian troops are continuing to put up a strong resistance in the besieged cities of Mariupol and Kharkiv, with two separate videos released today showing Russian military vehicles being ambushed.
In the first video, Ukraine’s Azov Battalion launched artillery strikes on a Russian tank in Mariupol, killing at least two soldiers and destroying the vehicle.
The second video showed a Ukrainian soldier lying in wait for a Russian personnel carrier driving through Kharkiv, broadsiding the truck with a rocket from close range.
This is the moment Ukrainian forces ambushed a Russian tank with multiple missile strikes on the streets of the besieged city Mariupol
The Mariupol footage, captured by a drone, shows a Russian tank progressing down a four-lane road in a residential area of the city.
Seconds after the vehicle turned a corner on a junction, an explosion is seen at the rear of the tank – narrowly missing it.
The tank, with a large white ‘Z’ emblazoned on the front signifying that it is a Russian military vehicle, was quickly brought to a halt.
But this only made it a sitting duck for Ukraine’s forces. A second strike is shown making a direct hit on top of the tank shortly after it stopped moving, with flames from the explosion erupting from the combat vehicle.
In a desperate attempt to escape the attack, the Russian troops attempted to reverse the tank back down the street, only for a third strike to hit its mark.
At this point, Russian troops inside the vehicle attempted to flee their vehicle. The footage shows the hatch opening and smoke pouring out of the opening.
But the onslaught continued, with a fourth missile landing right on top of the tank, killing at least one Russian soldier as they attempted to make a run for it.
A second soldier is seen climbing out of the vehicle and jumping down to the street, past the body of one of his comrades, and narrowly avoiding yet another strike.
Ukraine’s forces, using anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs), appeared to target the fleeing soldier when another explosion is seen on the road, just feet away from the smoking vehicle.
Seconds after the vehicle turned a corner while driving down a main road, aerial footage captured by a drone shows that an initial strike narrowly missed at the rear of the tank
The vehicle was brought to a halt, only making a sitting duck for Ukraine’s missile strikes
As the tank attempted to reverse to escape the onslaught, Ukrainian troops landed several direct hits on the vehicle, killing at least two Russian troops and destroying the tank
At least two bodies could be seen strewn amongst the debris, while the wreckage of the tank smouldered in the middle of the Mariupol street
As the smoke cleared, the drone footage showed at least two bodies strewn across the road amongst the debris, and the smouldering wreckage of the tank.
The video of the unrelenting attack was captured by the Azov battalion, a special operations unit within the Ukrainian army fighting against Russia’s occupation.
The footage was shared on Thursday by Ukraine’s army on Facebook, along with a second video showing a second ambush.
Like the first video, it shows a Russian military troop carrier driving down a main road – this time in Kharkiv. The video is also cut with footage captured by a helmet camera of the Ukrainian soldier who ambushes the vehicle.
The Ukrainian soldier was riding in their own vehicle when the squad saw their target turn into the road ahead. The Ukrainian vehicle quickly pulled off the road and down a side street, and the soldier with the helmet camera jumped off the truck.
Soon after the personnel carrier turned a corner, it was broadsided by a missile – this time fired from a rocket-launcher operated by the Ukrainian soldier (pictured)
Shocked by the attack, the troops ducked down into the truck which started to veer off the road, before crashing into a telephone pole
The soldier took position near where the Russian truck would pass, ready to strike.
Again, soon after the vehicle turned a corner, it was broadsided by a missile – this time fired from a rocket-launcher operated by the Ukrainian soldier.
The attack was also filmed by a drone, which showed several soldiers in the back of the troop carrier as it was hit by the rocket.
Shocked by the attack, the troops ducked down into the truck which started to veer off the road, before crashing into a telephone pole.
It was not clear how many were injured in the attack, and the footage of the attack cut off before the Russian troops exited the personnel carrier.
It was unclear when the two attacks occurred, but the videos were shared as Western countries said Russian forces are no longer making progress on the ground in their invasion of Ukraine.
The war Moscow was thought to have hoped to win within days has entered its fourth week, and while Russian forces continue strikes on civilian targets, Ukraine’s military has been putting up a strong resistance.
Russia has taken heavy losses, with figures based just on visual confirmation alone suggesting 1,380 Russian military vehicles have been either destroyed (598), damaged (20), abandoned (211) or captured by Ukrainian forces (551).
Ukraine estimates that the Kremlin’s armies have lost far more, with Ukraine’s Armed Forces saying on Wednesday that over 13,800 Russian troops have been killed.
Other estimates have put this figure even higher, with the US on Thursday saying Russia has lost up to 28,000 soldiers – killed and wounded – during the three weeks of fighting in Ukraine.
Pictured: A woman walks past a destroyed tank in a street damaged during Ukraine-Russia conflict in the separatist-controlled town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region, Ukraine March 15, 2022
Meanwhile, Ukraine said Russian forces had destroyed a theatre where women and children had been sheltering in Mariupol.
An official in the Mariupol mayor’s office said a bomb shelter at the theatre had ‘withstood’ and there were survivors, but details of casualties were still not known.
Russia denied striking the theatre, which commercial satellite pictures showed had the word ‘children’ marked out on the ground in front before it was blown up.
Russia has assaulted Ukraine from four directions, sending two massive columns towards Kyiv from the northwest and northeast, pushing in from the east near the second biggest city Kharkiv, and spreading in from the south near Crimea.
But British military intelligence said in an update on Thursday that the invasion had ‘largely stalled on all fronts’, and Russian forces were suffering heavy losses from a staunch and well-coordinated Ukrainian resistance.
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