RUSSIAN-UKRAINE WAR – A column of 11 Russian tanks and armoured vehicles were destroyed in a single Ukrainian onslaught, grainy battlefield footage has shown, in a blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The losses – mainly inflicted by FPV kamikaze drones – have outraged pro-Putin war-watchers and show a Kyiv military success amid the on-going stalemate of the war.
But the footage also emerged amid continuing reports that president Volodymyr Zelensky is poised to oust his commander-in-chief General Valerii Zaluzhnyi, despite his status as a national hero for leading the war effort against Putin’s forces.
The blistering Ukrainian strikes came in the Novomykhailivka area of Russian-held Donetsk region, found in the east of Ukraine.
How the Column Were Obliterated
Three T-72 were taken out along with five amphibious [MTLBS] tracked armoured fighting vehicles and an infantry fighting vehicle.
Two more modernised amphibious [MTLBM] tracked armoured fighting vehicles were also destroyed, one by an anti-tank guided missile.
Cameras on both the drones being used in the attack and on drones flying over the battlefield captured the pin-point strikes on the Putin convoy manoeuvring near the frontlines, which stretch for hundreds of miles in Ukraine’s east.
The drone-mounted cameras show the UAVs speeding towards the Russian tanks, with the video cutting off moments before they strike.
In the footage that has emerged, this is shown over and over again, with the later videos flying over the smoking wrecks of the destroyed Russian armour.
From a distance, grainy footage shows the dark shapes of the tanks rolling across the battlefield as plumes of smoke and balls of fire erupt with each strike.
Beluga Telegram channel in Ukraine said: ‘The [Russian] column was spotted around 12:50. At 15:20 the convoy was broken up.’
A Huge Loss for Russians
The number of losses of military personnel from the strikes is unclear – but the attack has infuriated pro-war ‘Z’ channels who propagandise the conflict for Putin.
Such groups are exasperated by failures of his military commanders which left the tanks and other armoured vehicles as sitting ducks.
One comment from Romanov Light demanded: ‘How can you afford to lose so much equipment in a day, so many people?
‘Complete stupidity and incompetence. The [Russian] Armed Forces DO NOT have any massive protection against enemy drones.’
