Drone footage has surfaced on social media showing a Ukrainian ambush on a Russian armoured column near Brovary, a Kyiv suburban area in the east.
The footage was geolocated by the specialist open-source investigator Bellingcat to a sparsely settled location on the E95 road around 22 miles (35km) from the centre of Kyiv, where Russian soldiers have been attempting to amass.
The 45-second video, provided by Ukraine’s military forces, is a montage of road action that depicts a company or more of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles coming under the heaviest bombardment.
The video has audio of a Russian officer informing his superiors of an attack. This is portrayed as a powerful reflection of the combat. It also stated that the regiment’s commander, identified as Col Andrei Zakharov by Ukrainian media, was killed however this could not be independently confirmed.
“Sixth regiment lost,” the officer tells headquarters. “I cannot report about the 6th regiment. I’m collecting data. Lots of losses. They waited for us. The Head of the convoy got into the ambush. Regiment commander killed in action.”
Several military analysts claimed the video was authentic and revealed startling tactics by Russian forces, with more than 20 tanks and other armoured vehicles on a crucial route near the city.
“They either think they are going through a safe area, or they were not well trained, or they are moving fast for some other requirement,” said Ben Barry, a former tank commander in the British army and a ground warfare specialist with the International Institute for Strategic Studies.
According to Barry, tanks going through a densely populated region should often utilise close infantry support to avoid ambushes from the side of the road. After watching the video, he concluded that the Russian armour was most likely targeted with artillery or mortar fire according to the pattern of the explosions.
The Russian reportedly reporting the ambush speculates on the audio that Turkish Bayraktar drones may have targeted them; however, bits of the footage reveals poor weather and low cloud cover, which are not suitable for drone strikes.
The tape also shows a TOS-1 heavy flamethrower at the bottom of the frame, identified with an O sign. At one point during the combat, it fires a rocket at an off-screen target, demonstrating Russia’s readiness to deploy thermobaric weaponry in warfare.
Rob Lee, a former US soldier and PhD student at King’s College London, who watched the footage, said it showed “very poor tactics” on the side of the Russians, with force positioned “on an obvious avenue of approach.”
During the war, Russia has incurred more casualties than anticipated. However, Ukraine has sought to make a public relations show out of its wins, distributing images of tractors pulling destroyed Russian tanks or opposing armour.
According to Oryx, which tracks losses using picture or video evidence, 164 Russian tanks have been destroyed, damaged, or seized thus far. According to Oryx, the number of Russian armoured combat vehicles is 102, while Ukraine’s weaker army has suffered losses of 47 tanks and 39 combat vehicles.
The US estimated earlier this week that 5,000 to 6,000 Russian troops and 2,000 to 4,000 Ukrainian forces, as well as many more civilians, had been killed. Another US assessment assessed that both sides had lost 8% to 10% of their military assets engaged in the war.
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