Newly released footage filmed on defender drones shows the Ukrainian army wiping out multiple Russian armoured vehicles and a command centre as the war enters its 18th day.
The first video was shared online on Sunday morning and appears to show rockets being fired at three armoured vehicles in the Ukrainian south-eastern city of Mariupol.
The aerial footage, which was circulated by several unverified accounts, shows a BTR-82 APC and KamAZ-63968 ‘Typhoon’ vehicle being targeted successfully. It is not clear when the strike took place.
Newly released footage filmed on defender drones shows the Ukrainian army wiping out multiple Russian armoured vehicles in Mariupol (pictured) and a command centre in Vasylivka
The footage was shared online by unverified accounts and showed armoured vehicles hit
Pictured: Plumes of thick grey smoke were seen billowing into the sky after the drone strike
The BTR-82A is an advanced 8×8 wheeled armoured personnel carrier (APC) being manufactured by in Russia for use by the armies of Russia and Kazakhstan.
The second video footage was also shared online on Sunday and shows a drone strike on a Russian command centre in southern Ukraine.
The footage was released by the Ukrainian Army who said it shows the Russian command and control center destroyed near Vasylivka, in the Mykolaiv region by a Bayraktar drone.
It is unknown if or how many casualties there were involved in both strikes on Russian forces.
It comes as Russia escalated attacks in western Ukraine on Sunday with a deadly airstrike on a military base where Ukrainian troops had trained with NATO forces, bringing the conflict closer to Poland and prompting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to renew his pleas for a no-fly zone.
Zelenskyy called Sunday a ‘black day,’ and said none of the activities at the military base would have threatened Russian territory.
Explosions have been heard on the outskirts of the western Ukrainian city of Lviv after Russian forces launched an attack on a military base just 12 miles from the Polish border, killing at least nine people and injuring dozens more.
A video shared by the Ukrainian army showed a Russian command centre being hit by missiles
Pictured: The footage captured by a defence drone shows the building burst into flames
Pictured: The footage of the drone strike took place near near Vasylivka, in the Mykolaiv region
According to Ukrainian sources, Vladimir Putin’s forces had launched a missile strike on the International Center for Peacekeeping and Security, also known as Yavoriv military complex, just before 6am this morning.
Initial reports suggested the base had been targeted by eight missiles, but Maksym Kozytskyi, Governor of the region later confirmed 30 cruise missiles had been fired, killing 35 people and injuring 134.
An American journalist was also killed Sunday and another injured when their vehicle came under fire from Russian forces outside Kyiv.
Meanwhile, continued fighting in multiple regions caused more misery throughout Ukraine and has provoked international outrage.
Now in its third week, the war has forced more than 2.5 million people to flee Ukraine. Thousands of civilians and soldiers have been killed.
Meanwhile, the death toll in the strategic southern port city of Mariupol, facing acute deprivation amid a prolonged siege, has topped 2,000, officials there said.
The International Peace Keeping and Security Centre in Yavoriv burns after being hit by a Russian missile strike in the early hours of Sunday – killing 35 people and injuring 134 more
The missile strikes destroyed buildings on the military base, with footage after the attack showing parts of entire buildings demolished
This photo reportedly shows damage at the Yavoriv training area that was targeted by Russia
Efforts continued to get help to Mariupol, which aid agencies say is facing a humanitarian catastrophe.
A humanitarian column headed there had to turn back again on Sunday, a city official said, after the Russians ‘did not stop firing’.
A total of 2,187 residents have now died in days of relentless Russian bombardment, the city council said Sunday.
‘The enemy is holding the city hostage by performing real acts of genocide,’ said Ukraine Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov.
Zelensky has accused Moscow of both blocking and attacking humanitarian convoys, although he said Sunday that another 125,000 people had been evacuated that way across Ukraine.
‘Russians are bombing the city even during official negotiations,’ Defence Minister Reznikov said. ‘They have no dignity, no honor, no mercy.’
Talks between the two sides have yet to yield a ceasefire, but Ukrainian and Russian representatives will meet via video-conference Monday, a Zelensky adviser and a Kremlin spokesman both said.
‘And our goal is that in this struggle, in this difficult negotiating work, Ukraine will get the necessary result… for peace and for security,’ Zelensky said early Monday.
‘We see significant progress,’ Leonid Slutsky, a senior member of Russia’s negotiating team, told state-run television network RT Sunday.
It comes after the Ukrainian President visited wounded soldiers at a military hospital in Kiev on Sunday to boost their morale and award them medals for their bravery.
‘Guys, get well soon. I believe that the best gift for your statement will be our common victory!’ said Zelensky, according to an English translation of a tweet posted by the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine.
He awarded 106 servicemen of the armed forces in Ukraine the title of ‘Heroes of Ukraine’, 17 of which were awarded posthumously.