- Battle took place south of the town of Ivanivske, that lies to the west of Bakhmut
- The region has experienced brutal fighting in Putin's 14-month-long war
This is the terrifying moment a Ukrainian tank fired on a Russian trench from point-blank range, before soldiers moved in to finish the job
The battle took place south of the town of Ivanivske that lies to the west of besieged city Bakhmut - which has been the focus of the war's bloodiest fighting since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last year
This is the terrifying moment a Ukrainian tank fired on a Russian trench from point-blank range, before soldiers moved in to finish the job.
The battle took place south of the town of Ivanivske that lies to the west of besieged city Bakhmut - which has been the focus of the war's bloodiest fighting since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine last year.
Brutal fighting for the city and the surrounding region has seen the return of trench warfare to Europe, in scenes reminiscent of the First and Second World Wars.
In the footage captured from a distance and released by Ukraine's 5 Separate Assault Brigade, a Ukrainian tank is seen rolling down a road through a barren field left scarred by battle - stalking its targets.
A long zigzag trench is seen running parallel to the road, like a scar on the land, with Russian soldiers sheltering inside with no weapons to counter the heavy armour.
Once in position, the tank fires off several rounds at the trench.
The first narrowly misses, but its follow-up shots hit their mark, tearing up the earth around the trench and rattling Putin's troops inside.
The tank is then seen reversing back down the road away from the trench.
But if the Russian soldiers thought this was the end of the onslaught, they would have been sorely mistaken.
The footage shows a second armoured vehicle rolling up the road along-side the trench, this time an armoured fighting vehicle with ground troops inside.
First, the mounted machine gun on top of the vehicle is seen opening fire on the trench, pinning down two Russian soldiers who are seen attempting to flee.
In a desperate attempt to escape the unrelenting assault, the Russian soldiers are shown crawling on their hands and needs as bullets slam into the earth around them.
At this point in the footage, four Ukrainian soldiers appear from the rear of the Infantry fighting vehicle.
One of the soldiers, armed with a rocket launcher, fires off a missile at the trench as the armoured vehicle provides covering fire.
The soldiers then fires off a second missile. Both cause huge blasts in the trench.
With the machine gun still providing covering fire, the Ukrainian soldiers proceed to advance on the trench and steadily move up the tunnel stalking any survivors.
Russian casualty numbers were unclear, but the brutal footage ends by showing a trail of bodies lining the trench.
It was not clear when the video was filmed, but it emerged as Ukrainian and Russian forces continued their deadly battle in the street of Bakhmut.
Pictured: Footage shows a second armoured vehicle rolling up the road along-side the trench, this time an armoured fighting vehicle with ground troops inside
The armoured vehicle opens fire on two Russian soldiers crawling along the ground in the trench, before Ukrainian soldiers deploy to finish the job
Pictured: A plume of smoke rises as a Ukrainian soldier first off a missile at a Russian position
Pictured: A Ukrainian soldier (bottom-right) is seen advancing up the trench as the armoured vehicle provides suppressing fire
Kyiv's forces have been holding back Russia's advance in Eastern Ukraine's devastated 'fortress' city, with soldiers saying they were ready to launch their long-anticipated counter-offensive once the weather improves to push Moscow back.
The months-long battle for Bakhmut, one of the last urban centres in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk province yet to fall to Moscow, has proven one of the bloodiest of Russia's invasion, now in its 14th month.
'The battles for Bakhmut continue,' said Andriy Yermak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
'They are underway in the streets, enemy attempts to encircle the city are failing. Our command fully control the situation with the defensive 'fortress',' he said, using the nickname Zelenskiy gave to the city.
Western analysts have played down the strategic significance of Bakhmut but Ukraine has framed its dogged defence of what is now a completely destroyed city as a way of wearing down Russian forces.
Both sides have suffered huge casualties there.
'Bakhmut is performing the key task of inflicting as many losses on Russia as possible and, most importantly, to prepare for a counter-attack to take place in late April-May,' Pavlo Narozhniy, a Ukrainian military analyst, told NV Radio. Fighting is also raging further south in Avdiivka, a town near the regional capital of Donetsk, he added.
Soldiers manning the trenches near Bakhmut said they were ready for any counter-offensive.
'We are ready, we have to do it, the sooner, the better. The enemy must be chased away. At the moment we are waiting for the weather to change, the mud is an obstacle,' Naza, a 21-year-old unit commander, told Reuters.
Ukrainian military expert Vladyslav Selezniov said Ukraine would be able to defend positions in the more heavily built-up west of Bakhmut as long as their route to the west, the 'road of life' for getting supplies in and wounded out, remained open.
President Zelenskiy said on Wednesday that Ukrainian troops could withdraw from Bakhmut if they risked getting cut off.
Pictured: A Ukrainian tank fires off a round during firing practice amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
Ukrainian soldiers are seen on a tank amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
Ukrainian soldiers go to the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine amid Russia-Ukraine war on March 29
A Ukrainian soldier takes a rest amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
Zelenskiy was speaking on a trip to Warsaw where he said Poland, a close ally of his country, would help form a coalition of Western powers to supply warplanes to Kyiv.
The Polish government said it would send 10 more MiG fighter jets on top of four provided earlier, but there has been no agreement from the United States or Ukraine's other major military backers to send the F-16 fighters Kyiv has requested.
Russia says its 'special military operation' in Ukraine was necessary to protect its security against what it sees as a hostile and aggressive West. Kyiv and its Western allies say Moscow is waging an unprovoked war aimed at grabbing territory.
France's Macron pressed China's Xi on Thursday to pressure Putin to end the war in Ukraine. Xi has called Putin a 'dear friend', their nations have declared a 'no-limits' partnership, and Beijing has refrained from criticising Russia's invasion.
'The Russian aggression in Ukraine has dealt a blow to (international) stability,' Macron told Xi, standing alongside the Chinese president outside the Great Hall of the People ahead of their meeting. 'I know I can count on you to bring back Russia to reason and everyone back to the negotiating table.'
There are currently no talks aimed at ending the war, and Dmitry Suslov, an adviser to Putin, was quoted as saying there was 'zero' chance of peace talks happening in 2023.
Suslov, speaking to Italy's Corriere della Sera newspaper in an interview published on Thursday, said Ukraine's much-anticipated counter-offensive was likely to focus on the Sea of Azov and cutting off the Crimea peninsula - annexed by Moscow in 2014 - but played down the chances of it succeeding.
'If the Kiev offensive fails, the West will be short of weapons and at that point Russia will be able to mobilise 400,000 men for the final attack,' he said.
In comments that seemed to confirm the importance of Crimea in any Ukrainian counter-offensive, an adviser to Ukraine's Zelenskiy told the Financial Times in an interview on Thursday that Kyiv would be willing to discuss the future of the Black Sea peninsula if its forces reached the border of Crimea.
'If we will succeed in achieving our strategic goals on the battlefield and when we will be on the administrative border with Crimea, we are ready to open (a) diplomatic page to discuss this issue,' Andriy Sybiha said in the interview.
Ukrainian soldiers drive a tank amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
Ukrainian soldiers are seen on a tank amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
Ukrainian soldiers pose amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
Ukrainian soldiers are seen amid Russia-Ukraine war on the frontline of Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on March 29
The war has exposed weaknesses within Russia's military.
In its daily intelligence briefing on Thursday, Britain's defence ministry said it was 'highly likely' that Moscow had sacked Colonel-General Rustam Muradov as commander of Russia's eastern forces in Ukraine due to 'exceptionally heavy casualties in recent months', as well as repeated failures to seize the Donetsk region city of Vuhledar.
Reuters could not independently confirm the report.
Muradov himself took up the command of the eastern forces last year after their failure to seize Ukraine's capital Kyiv.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11945555/Ukrainian-tank-storms-Russian-trenches-near-Bakhmut-terrifying-drone.html
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