Ukrainian forces brutally crushed a Russian assault in the Donetsk region, inflicting massive casualties on Vladimir Putin’s army.
Russian forces have steadily been gaining ground in Ukraine’s eastern regions, capturing 1,609 square miles of territory over the past year.
However, the gains have come at a horrific cost in human lives, as unscrupulous Russian commanders hurl their soldiers into kamikaze meat assaults.
In one ferocious battle on the Siversk front, Ukraine’s army repelled a massive Russian attack.
Putin’s troops attacked positions defended by Ukraine’s 10th Separate Mountain Assault Brigade using 40 motorbikes and several armoured vehicles.
The brigade wiped out 39 motorcycles, as well as six armoured vehicles and 16 enemy drones.
At the same time, 52 Russians were killed, while another 12 were injured and one was taken prisoner.
During another operation in the Donetsk region, a Russian T-80 tank was destroyed by thermite munition dropped by a drone.
Video footage from the drone shows the tank standing still in a muddy field as the UAV hovers above it.
The incendiary device hits the tank, which bursts into flames, sending thick black smoke spiralling upwards.
Ukraine has destroyed over 700 of the T-80s, which have earned the nickname “steel coffins”.
The tank has underperformed, with key drawbacks including a gas turbine engine with high fuel consumption, excessive maintenance requirements, and poor survivability against modern weapons.
In a further blow to Putin’s army, Ukrainian forces in Kursk captured 27 Russian soldiers, after a fierce battle.
Putin’s army has been trying to expel Kyiv’s forces from its western province, ever since Ukraine seized parts of the territory in a lightening raid at the beginning of August last year.
Despite amassing some 60,000 troops that include around 12,000 North Koreans, Russia has been repeatedly frustrated in its counteroffensive due to dogged Ukrainian resistance.
It comes as Ukraine’s army claimed to have killed or injured 1,600 Russians on Monday, bringing the overal casualtyl total to 822,030.
