RUSSIA'S BATTLE OF THE BULGE MOMENT
Andy Gregory
Sat, February 26, 2022
The driver pulled up alongside the tank and asked soldiers from his open window whether they had broken down (Twitter/Grab)
A Ukrainian man has filmed himself offering to tow an enemy tank back to Russia, after spotting the assault vehicle having apparently ground to a halt in the middle of a motorway.
The latest in a series of viral clips of Ukrainians bravely confronting Russian troops shows the driver pulling up alongside the motionless military vehicle, and asking several soldiers from his open window whether they have broken down.
Upon being told that they have run out of fuel, the driver prompts laughter from the soldiers as he asks: “Can I tow you back to Russia?”
According to translations on social media, he then tells the soldiers they are en route to Kyiv after they fail to tell him where they are supposed to be going.
Asked by the soldiers for news on the invasion, he tells them that Ukraine is winning the war while Moscow’s troops are good at surrendering because “they also do not know where they are going”.
As a parting shot, the Ukrainian claims to have asked “the whole column” of Russian vehicles advancing towards the capital but that “no one knows where they are and where they are going”. The footage shows him driving past yet another stationary tank within 30 seconds.
It is not the only report of Moscow tanks running out of fuel as Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Russia’s sovereign neighbour enters its third day, with a UK government minister among those suggesting the Kremlin’s plan “is nowhere near running to schedule” amid strong Ukrainian resistance.
A Ukrainian military Facebook account claimed on Friday that Russian troops stopped near Konotop, north east of Kyiv, had “a problem with fuel and supplies”, alleging that some invading soldiers were walking around with gas canisters “trying to buy fuel” and others were “demanding food from the local population” while businesses had been looted.
Asked by the soldiers for news on the invasion, he tells them that Ukraine is winning the war while Moscow’s troops are good at surrendering because “they also do not know where they are going”.
As a parting shot, the Ukrainian claims to have asked “the whole column” of Russian vehicles advancing towards the capital but that “no one knows where they are and where they are going”. The footage shows him driving past yet another stationary tank within 30 seconds.
It is not the only report of Moscow tanks running out of fuel as Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Russia’s sovereign neighbour enters its third day, with a UK government minister among those suggesting the Kremlin’s plan “is nowhere near running to schedule” amid strong Ukrainian resistance.
A Ukrainian military Facebook account claimed on Friday that Russian troops stopped near Konotop, north east of Kyiv, had “a problem with fuel and supplies”, alleging that some invading soldiers were walking around with gas canisters “trying to buy fuel” and others were “demanding food from the local population” while businesses had been looted.
Ukrainian service members are seen at the site of a fighting with Russian raiding group in the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv (AFP via Getty Images)
“The main armoured columns approaching Kyiv are still some way off. That is a testament to the incredible resistance the Ukrainian armoured forces have put up over the last 48 hours or so,” UK armed forces minister James Heappey told Sky News on Saturday.
“Clearly the Russian plan is to take Kyiv but the reality is that the Ukrainians are thwarting them thus far. It looks like the Russian plan is nowhere near running to schedule.
“I think that will be a great cause of concern for President Putin and rather points to the fact that there was a lot of hubris in the Russian plan and that he may be awfully advised.”
Fighting intensified overnight in the Ukrainian capital, as small Russian raiding groups’ attempts to infiltrate the city saw street skirmishes break out, as Moscow’s forces continue to advance on Kyiv from multiple directions.
Follow live updates on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
But the UK Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that the speed of the Russian advance had “temporarily slowed likely as a result of acute logistical difficulties and strong Ukrainian resistance”.
"Russian forces are bypassing major Ukrainian population centres while leaving forces to encircle and isolate them,” the ministry said in an intelligence update.
“Overnight clashes in Kyiv are likely to have involved limited numbers of pre-positioned Russian sabotage groups. The capture of Kyiv remains Russia's primary military objective.”
Watch: Ukrainian civilians use their bodies to block Russian tanks
Grayson Quay, Weekend editor
Sat, February 26, 2022
Russian tank ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian citizens in the city of Bakhmach stood in front of advancing Russian tanks on Saturday, according to video verified by CNN.
Per CNN, "[i]n the video, tanks can be seen driving on roads in Bakhmach, which is just over 110 miles northeast of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv."
The video shows a man climbing onto a Russian tank as it drives down a city street. The tank stops, and the man climbs down and briefly kneels in front of it before standing up and moving out of the way.
According to CNN's translation, a voice can be heard saying, "They are throwing their bicycles underneath the Russian tanks," though no one can be seen doing so on the video. The voice also describes people "throwing themselves under the wheels." As the video ends, someone can be seen climbing back onto the tank.
Ukraine's government has encouraged civilians to help defend their country, handing out assault rifles and urging citizens to assemble Molotov cocktails. The Russian Defense Ministry has condemned these actions, arguing that arming untrained civilians "will inevitably lead to accidents and casualties," per CNN.
The U.S. Defense Department believes that 50 percent of the approximately 200,000 troops Russia massed on Ukraine's border in the months leading up to the invasion are now fighting inside Ukraine, USA Today reported Saturday afternoon.
According to USA Today, Russian reconnaissance forces have entered Kyiv and engaged in street battles with Ukrainian troops, but the main force driving south from Belarus toward the capital city is still around 18 miles away.
Bakhmach is around 150 miles from Kyiv, and is located midway between the capital and the northeastern city of Kharkiv, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war so far, according to CNBC.
Grayson Quay, Weekend editor
Sat, February 26, 2022
Russian tank ANATOLII STEPANOV/AFP via Getty Images
Ukrainian citizens in the city of Bakhmach stood in front of advancing Russian tanks on Saturday, according to video verified by CNN.
Per CNN, "[i]n the video, tanks can be seen driving on roads in Bakhmach, which is just over 110 miles northeast of the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv."
The video shows a man climbing onto a Russian tank as it drives down a city street. The tank stops, and the man climbs down and briefly kneels in front of it before standing up and moving out of the way.
According to CNN's translation, a voice can be heard saying, "They are throwing their bicycles underneath the Russian tanks," though no one can be seen doing so on the video. The voice also describes people "throwing themselves under the wheels." As the video ends, someone can be seen climbing back onto the tank.
Ukraine's government has encouraged civilians to help defend their country, handing out assault rifles and urging citizens to assemble Molotov cocktails. The Russian Defense Ministry has condemned these actions, arguing that arming untrained civilians "will inevitably lead to accidents and casualties," per CNN.
The U.S. Defense Department believes that 50 percent of the approximately 200,000 troops Russia massed on Ukraine's border in the months leading up to the invasion are now fighting inside Ukraine, USA Today reported Saturday afternoon.
According to USA Today, Russian reconnaissance forces have entered Kyiv and engaged in street battles with Ukrainian troops, but the main force driving south from Belarus toward the capital city is still around 18 miles away.
Bakhmach is around 150 miles from Kyiv, and is located midway between the capital and the northeastern city of Kharkiv, which has seen some of the heaviest fighting of the war so far, according to CNBC.
Ukraine: Tank filmed crushing car driven by elderly civilian on Kyiv street
Samuel Lovett
Fri, February 25, 2022
A tank has been filmed crushing a civilian car in a northern district of Kyiv, as Vladimir Putin’s troops continue their advance on the Ukrainian capital.
In a video shared with and verified by The Independent, the armoured vehicle can be seen cutting across the road before driving over the oncoming car.
A second video shows a group of men attending to the wreckage on Obolonsky Avenue, in which an elderly man can be seen moving behind the wheel of the car. A local resident who shared the footage with The Independent said: “Russian ‘liberators’ on the streets of Kyiv crush the cars of civilians.”
The BBC has reported that the driver was pulled alive from the wreckage.
However, there was some argument on social media, that the armoured vehicle was Ukrainian, not Russian, and its driver lostcontrol of the vehicle.
Russian forces are moving through the northern outskirts of Ukraine's capital, and US officials have warned that president Vladimir Putin may be intent on installing a new, more friendly government in Kyiv.
Local residents in the city have been urged to fight back with Molotov cocktails against the encroaching troops, with instructions of how to make the petrol bombs circulated on the Ukrainian Interior Ministry’s social media.
Some 18,000 machine guns have also been handed out to “all those who want to defend our capital with weapons in their arms,” according to government adviser Vadym Denysenko.
Among the signs that the Ukrainian capital was increasingly threatened, the military said that a group of Russian spies and saboteurs was seen in a district of Kyiv about three miles north of the city centre. Air strikes were later reported to have struck the city.
Elsewhere in the capital, soldiers have established defensive positions at bridges, and armoured vehicles rolled down the streets, while many residents stood uneasily in doorways of their apartment buildings.
Sirens have sounded out across Kyiv since the early hours of Friday, with residents forced to take shelter in underground metro stations following a series of Russian overnight aerial attacks that hit the densely populated Pozniake neighbourhood, in which at least eight people were reportedly injured.
Tetyana Filevska, a resident of the city and deputy director of the Ukrainian Institute, told The Independent: “We urgently need all the help to our army, people and country. We need guns and equipment, medicines, economic aid - but most of all we need solidarity in fighting Russia.
“We are keeping Europe safe, you all have to understand this. Putin won’t stop on Ukraine. He will go further.”
Alongside Kyiv, multiple other Ukrainian cities are under attack by Russian forces. The Kremlin’s defence ministry says its troops have surrounded the city of Chernihiv, which is about 150 km north of the capital. Explosions and gunfire have also been reported in Kharkiv, close to the eastern border, and the southern port of Mariupo
Ukraine’s Tiananmen Square: Desperate civilian stands in front of Russian armoured vehicles
Rachel Sharp
Sat, February 26, 2022,
Gut-wrenching footage has emerged of the moment a desperate Ukrainian civilian stood in front of a Russian convoy in a scene reminiscent of Tiananmen Square.
The video, posted on social media by Ukrainian outlet HB, shows the brave man risking his life by trying to block a convoy of armoured vehicles streaking along the road towards him.
Gasps are heard from the people filming the incident as the man confronts the Russian troops and the vehicles appear to drive around him.
His brave act is believed to have taken place in the south of Ukraine, close to Crimea.
The man does not appear to be harmed during the 28-second clip of footage.
The incident echoed the iconic image of a lone protester standing in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989.
The man, who became known as “Tank man”, was seen holding two shopping bags as he faced down a line of tanks in the square.
At the time, the square had become the site of huge protests as the Chinese people called for greater political freedom from the Communist government.
The Communist rulers sent in troops to crush the protesters and at least 200 people are believed to have been killed.
Many social media users commented that the lone man seen in the footage in Ukraine is the country’s “tank man” as it continues to come under attack from Russia.
Russian troops continued to advance on Kyiv on Friday with tanks seen entering the Ukrainian capital while explosions rang out across the city.
Fears are mounting that the city could fall within a matter of hours or days, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukrainian troops to overthrow their own leaders as he seeks to topple the nation’s government.
At least 137 Ukrainians have been killed, including civilian men, women and children since the Russian president declared war in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Among the dead are 13 border guards who were killed in an attack on a tiny island in the Black Sea after they bravely refused to surrender to Russian troops.
Viral video footage shows a Ukrainian man rushing into a column
Rachel Sharp
Sat, February 26, 2022,
Gut-wrenching footage has emerged of the moment a desperate Ukrainian civilian stood in front of a Russian convoy in a scene reminiscent of Tiananmen Square.
The video, posted on social media by Ukrainian outlet HB, shows the brave man risking his life by trying to block a convoy of armoured vehicles streaking along the road towards him.
Gasps are heard from the people filming the incident as the man confronts the Russian troops and the vehicles appear to drive around him.
His brave act is believed to have taken place in the south of Ukraine, close to Crimea.
The man does not appear to be harmed during the 28-second clip of footage.
The incident echoed the iconic image of a lone protester standing in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989.
The man, who became known as “Tank man”, was seen holding two shopping bags as he faced down a line of tanks in the square.
At the time, the square had become the site of huge protests as the Chinese people called for greater political freedom from the Communist government.
The Communist rulers sent in troops to crush the protesters and at least 200 people are believed to have been killed.
Many social media users commented that the lone man seen in the footage in Ukraine is the country’s “tank man” as it continues to come under attack from Russia.
Russian troops continued to advance on Kyiv on Friday with tanks seen entering the Ukrainian capital while explosions rang out across the city.
Fears are mounting that the city could fall within a matter of hours or days, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukrainian troops to overthrow their own leaders as he seeks to topple the nation’s government.
At least 137 Ukrainians have been killed, including civilian men, women and children since the Russian president declared war in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Among the dead are 13 border guards who were killed in an attack on a tiny island in the Black Sea after they bravely refused to surrender to Russian troops.
Viral video footage shows a Ukrainian man rushing into a column
of Russian military vehicles (Twitter / @TweetsNV)
Despite the offensive, Ukrainian troops and citizens are fighting back, with the government calling on its people to defend Kyiv and banning men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country so they can be called up to serve.
Around 18,000 firearms have been handed out to volunteers and people are being urged to make Molotov cocktails to protect the capital city.
While Russia has not revealed its fatalities, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Friday that it had killed more than 1,000 Russian troops since the conflict began.
“Russia has not suffered so many casualties during the fighting in any of its armed conflicts since its inception,” the ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling on the wider international community to take more action after several nations including the US, the UK and the EU unveiled a series of sanctions on Russia in response to its act of war.
A lone protester stands in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989 (1989 AP)
Despite the offensive, Ukrainian troops and citizens are fighting back, with the government calling on its people to defend Kyiv and banning men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country so they can be called up to serve.
Around 18,000 firearms have been handed out to volunteers and people are being urged to make Molotov cocktails to protect the capital city.
While Russia has not revealed its fatalities, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Friday that it had killed more than 1,000 Russian troops since the conflict began.
“Russia has not suffered so many casualties during the fighting in any of its armed conflicts since its inception,” the ministry said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling on the wider international community to take more action after several nations including the US, the UK and the EU unveiled a series of sanctions on Russia in response to its act of war.
A lone protester stands in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989 (1989 AP)
RUSSIAN INVASION OF CZECHLOSLOVAKIA 1968
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