Drone captures Russian tank blown up into a fireball, Ukrainian army says: ‘Game over, Russian invaders!’

Drone footage shared by Ukrainian armed forces captured the moment a purported moving Russian tank was blown up, turning it into a huge fireball in a snow-covered field.

The Twitter account of Ukrainian armed forces shared the video on Tuesday, with messages such as: “Game over, Russian invaders!” and “We will win!”

The video clip, shared with the soundtrack of a song by a Swedish band, depicted what the defence ministry claimed is the Sicheslav Brigade of the Ukrainian Army’s 25th Separate Airborne Brigade blowing up a Russian tank that was crossing a ditch east of Donetsk.

The tank exploded into flames with a huge cloud of smoke and fire, leaving black plumes of smoke behind.

“The paratroopers continue to multiply the Moksha army to zero with accurate shots! We will win! Glory to Ukraine!” the message, accompanying the video read in Ukrainian.

This video has not been independently verified by The Independent.

On Wednesday morning, as the war continued for the 21st day, the Russian offensive stepped up and forces dealt fresh damage to capital Kyiv. Images released by emergency agencies showed a plume of smoke rising up from a 12-story apartment building in Kyiv after shrapnel from an artillery shell slammed into it.

Ukrainian defence forces on Wednesday said more than 100 children have been killed in just two days of the ongoing bloody war, describing it as the “crossing of tragic bloody line” by Russian forces.

“Every minute one child leaves Ukraine to escape the war. Russia will be held to account and will pay for everything,” the message added.

Meanwhile, Russian defence ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov claimed that they have destroyed 111 Ukrainian aircraft, 160 drones and more than 1,000 tanks or other military vehicles since the war began on 24 February.

The Russian army has taken more than 400 people hostage in a major hospital in Mariupol, Ukraine’s deputy prime minister Iryna Vereshchuk said on Wednesday. The hospital in Mariupol, a key port city on the Black Sea coast, has been encircled by Russian forces for more than a fortnight and residents have not had access to food or water and their power has been cut off.

Head of the Kyiv region Oleksiy Kuleba said Russia has occupied the city of Ivankiv, 80km (50 miles) north of Kyiv, and controls parts of the surrounding region on the border with Belarus.

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