Ukraine just inflicted serious losses on Russia: Incredible video footage shared on YouTube recently shows how Ukrainian drones could wipe out 31 Russian tanks in an ambush. The video, which was reportedly recorded in Vuhledar, depicts a Ukrainian drone dropping bombs on Russian tanks and taking out more than 30, according to estimations from the Russian side.
The Ukraine footage was shared by The Sun, a British newspaper and online news outlet.
The British news outlet reported that a column of dozens of tanks was lost and damaged in the ambush, with many Russian troops also killed in the attack.
In the video, Russian troops can be seen fleeing their vehicles as they come under attack from the Ukrainians.
In another part of the clip, the tanks can be seen desperately attempting to flee the scene, while one broken-down tank appears to get a jump start from a tank to its rear.
The tank ultimately fails to restart, and the soldiers can be seen fleeing the tank moments before another Ukrainian strike.
Towards the end of the video, more tanks can be seen getting hit by Ukrainian fire, with the tanks creating pillars of white smoke that rise hundreds of feet in to the air.
“Russian troops are seen in aerial footage fleeing under sustained aerial bombardment by the Ukrainians,” The Sun notes.
“One Russian estimate was that Vladimir Putin’s forces had lost 31 armoured vehicles in the carnage at Vuhledar, known to the Russians as Ugledar.”
“Catastrophic” Russian Casualties In Vuhledar, Ukraine
Ukrainian forces have made significant gains in the Vuhledar region in recent days.
An update from the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, said on Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Russian state television that his naval infantry is “working as it should” at this point and thanked the Pacific and Northern fleets for “heroically fighting.”
The think tank suggested that Putin’s nod to the Pacific and Northern fleets was deliberate, with the Russian leader acutely aware of the many well-documented and significant losses to the “mechanized elements of the 155th Naval Infantry Brigade of the Pacific Fleet in their assault on Vuhledar.”
Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense has stayed quiet about the losses in Vuhledar. Russian officials previously expressed optimism that troops would successfully take control of the city.
The ISW believes that Putin is “deliberately doubling down” on his defense ministry’s optimistic view of the situation in Vuhledar.
Putin’s thinking, think tank suggests, is that ground can be regained in an upcoming major new offensive in Donetsk Oblast.
Jack Buckby is 19FortyFive’s Breaking News Editor. He is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
