The moment a Russian tank appeared to blow up another Russian armored vehicle from meters away in apparent friendly fire was caught on video.
Video from a Ukrainian drone appears to show Russian troops and armor around the village of Dmytrivka, west of Kyiv, as they prepare to withdraw from their stalled attack on the Ukrainian capital.
The ambush is then triggered as a litany of blasts and blasts hit the clustered Russian tanks of presumably Ukrainian drones and artillery.
Previous versions of the video, filmed by a loitering drone on March 31, were unclear, but a new, higher-quality version makes the Russian tanks clearly identifiable with their distinctive “V” markings.
In the ensuing panic and chaos, a tank with the “V” markings can be seen engaged in a friendly fire incident, firing its main gun at another tank with the same markings from almost point-blank range.
It has been speculated that if the tank had been deactivated to render it useless to Ukrainian forces that might capture it, this could have been a premeditated act.
New clear footage from the March 31 battle clearly shows tanks and armor bearing the “V” symbol of Putin’s armed forces
Russian troops are advancing through the village of Dmytrivka along with Russian armor
The column of Russian tanks with distinctive “V” symbols advance in single file through the war-torn village as the Ukrainians strike
In the ensuing panic, as the column turns a corner at a vulnerable spot, a tank with the “V” symbol blows up a second tank, also with a “V” symbol, in a friendly fire incident
Previous versions of the video, filmed by a loitering drone on March 31, were unclear, but a new, higher-quality version makes the Russian tanks clearly identifiable with their distinctive “V” markings
A drone captures wreckage of suspected BMP-2 infantry fighting vehicles and T-72 main battle tanks
A count of Russian casualties indicates that the Ukrainian ambush hit seven BMP-2 and one BMD-2 armored personnel carriers and six T-72 main battle tanks, with eight soldiers killed in action
A count of Russian casualties indicates that the Ukrainian ambush hit seven BMP-2 and one BMD-2 armored personnel carriers and six T-72 main battle tanks, with eight soldiers killed in action.
Ukrainians struck as Russian forces began a retreat from Kyiv and northern Ukraine, with the Kremlin appearing to acknowledge the failure of their efforts to capture Kyiv and overthrow the Ukrainian government five weeks after the initial invasion.
Putin is now believed to be replenishing and concentrating his forces in eastern Ukraine to secure a victory on the Donbass battlefield and secure a face-saving triumph in time for Victory Day on May 9, when Russia celebrates its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II.
The Russian movement of its forces away from the towns and villages around Kyiv in eastern Ukraine has brought to light allegations of war crimes by Russian forces.
Ukrainian prosecutors are investigating civilian massacres in north-western suburbs such as Bucha, Makariv and Borodyanka, but the prosecutor general’s office said on Tuesday they are also investigating events in Brovary district, which lies to the north-east.
Ukrainian and French forensic investigators place remains of burned civilians, exhumed from a grave in body bags during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, in the city of Bucha
French forensic scientists who came to Ukraine to investigate war crimes stand next to a mass grave
The forensic team is exhuming the bodies of a mother and two children buried near the mass grave at a church in the City of Terror
Volunteers load bodies of civilians killed in Bucha onto a truck for transport to a morgue for investigation into possible war crimes
Russian President Vladimir Putin takes a picture April 12 with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko at the Vostochny Cosmodrome in the Amur region, Russia. Putin has denied that Russian forces committed war crimes in Ukraine
Ukrainian and Western leaders have in recent days accused Russian forces of committing atrocities against civilians in the devastated occupied areas around Kyiv – with Bucha proving to be the site of the most egregious examples of war crimes yet.
Ukrainian authorities say over 1,200 bodies have been found in the area and that they are weighing cases against “500 suspects” including Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior officials.
Work to exhume bodies from a mass grave in a Bucha churchyard resumed on Monday after more than 400 dead civilians were discovered. The majority had been shot.
President Joe Biden took a strong line, accusing Russia of committing “genocide” and saying Vladimir Putin was trying to “erase the notion of even being Ukrainian”.
“Yes, I called it genocide,” he told reporters in Iowa on Tuesday, saying he would “let the lawyers decide.”
He added: “It’s becoming increasingly clear that Putin is just trying to erase the very idea of being Ukrainian at all.”
President Joe Biden has for the first time accused Russia of committing “genocide” and said Vladimir Putin is trying to “eradicate the very idea of being Ukrainian at all”.
Meanwhile, Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said on Monday he was “quite pessimistic” about the prospects for diplomacy after becoming the first European leader to visit Russian President Vladimir Putin since the start of Moscow’s military campaign in Ukraine.
Describing Putin as “massively entering into a logic of war,” Nehammer told reporters, “If you ask me if I’m optimistic or pessimistic, I’m more of a pessimist.”
“Peace talks are always very time-consuming, while military logic says, ‘don’t spend too much time and go straight to battle,'” he added.
However, he said he spoke to European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz after the meeting, and impressed on them the “need for more such meetings” to directly express European outrage at Russia’s actions bring to.
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer became the first European leader to meet Vladimir Putin on Monday after planning to meet the Russian President face-to-face behind closed doors
Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer is set to meet Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Monday after visiting war-torn Bucha (pictured) over the weekend and speaking with leaders of Turkey, Germany and the European Union
While Nehammer said there was “very little interest on the Russian side in meeting directly” with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he said the only glimmer of hope was Putin’s continued interest in the Istanbul peace talks.
In an earlier statement, Nehammer said his meeting between the two men, held at Putin’s residence outside Moscow, was not a “friendly visit”.
Nehammer described the conversation as “direct, open and tough”.
The Austrian government had requested that the meeting be held behind closed doors, with no shared pictures or statements from the two leaders.
“I mentioned the serious war crimes in Bucha and elsewhere and stressed that everyone responsible must be brought to justice,” Nehammer said.
Russia denies its armed forces committed war crimes.