Moment Russian Tanks Hiding In Occupied Gardens Are Obliterated

By Tom Brown and Chris Pleasance and Rachel Bunyan For Mailonline and Wires

Published: 06:49 EDT, 23 May 2022 | Updated: 11:09 EDT, 23 May 2022

This is the moment Ukrainian troops destroyed Russian tanks after they were spotted trying to hide in residents' gardens.

Drone footage shows the tanks driving around and looking for somewhere to set up position in the village of Zirkuni in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of the Kharkiv Oblast.

One of the tanks was filmed reversing into a tree-covered yard, with a soldier bringing up the rear.

At one point, tank crews climbed on top of their vehicle while talking, seemingly trying to coordinate attempts to conceal their position.

But the garden foliage failed to help. Ukrainian strikes soon obliterated the invading tanks, with footage showing them engulfed in flames.

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Tank crews climbed on top of their vehicle while talking, seemingly trying to coordinate attempts to conceal their position

Drones spotted Russian tanks driving around the village of Zirkuni before trying to hide in the gardens in the north-eastern Ukrainian region of the Kharkiv Oblast

The Russian tanks went up in smoke after they were spotted by a Ukrainian drone and targeted in the village of Zirkuni

Russian forces were attempting to regain lost positions in the area after giving ground. Footage shows how tanks hidden in gardens were blown up

One of the tanks was filmed reversing into a tree-covered yard, with a soldier bringing up the rear before it is hit

Track marks can be seen in Ukrainian back yards as the tanks attempted to protect themselves, but with little effect. The wreckage is left smoking by roadsides, scorching the earth around it.

Russian forces were attempting to regain lost positions in the area after giving ground further west to the Ukrainian military.

Putin's men have been firing artillery at Ruski Tyshky, Cherkasy Tyshky and Pytomnyk - as well as the village of Zirkuni where the tanks entered.

President Volodymyr Zelensky's said Monday that Russian forces were repelled when trying to storm Sievierodonetsk, a Ukrainian city in Luhansk.

The city has become the main Russian target in recent days as Moscow tries to encircle Ukrainian forces in the east and fully capture the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Moscow is trying to overrun Sievierodonetsk, cut off a highway south of the city and cross the river further west at Bilohorivka, according to the Luhansk governor.

The dramatic footage from Zirkuni is the latest embarrassment for Putin - and the latest example of serious Russian military blunders.

Track marks can be seen in the large back yards as the tanks attempt to protect themselves, but with little effect

Putin's forces fired artillery at Ruski Tyshky, Cherkasy Tyshky and Pytomnyk - as well as the village of Zirkuni where the tanks entered

Tank crews got out of their vehicles, standing on top of the tank while talking, in a seeming attempt to co-ordinate the hiding

The wreckage is left smoking by roadsides, scorching the green earth around

This morning, the UK's Ministry of Defence said Moscow's losses in Ukraine over the first three months are likely to have already surpassed those of the Soviet-Afghan war which lasted nine years.

The Soviet Union's losses are estimated to be around 15,000 killed in the Afghan war, with an additional 35,478 wounded and 311 missing.

'The Russian public has, in the past, proven sensitive to casualties suffered during wars of choice,' said the UK government ministry, which did not name the exact figure.

'As casualties suffered in Ukraine continue to rise they will become more apparent, and public dissatisfaction with the war and a willingness to voice it may grow.'

Poor tactics, limited air cover, a lack of flexibility, and a command approach reinforcing failure and repeating mistakes has led to the high casualty rate, said the ministry.

A destroyed Russian tank is seen in a village to the north of Kharkiv after the area was recaptured by Ukrainian forces

The UK's Secretary of State for Defence Ben Wallace previously estimated that approximately a quarter of Russia's battalion tactical groups were 'not combat effective.'

Ukraine's military claims that around 28,700 Russian troops have been killed in the country since February, while Russia puts its own losses 1,351, a figure that has not been updated since late March.

The Soviet-Afghan War ended in a victory for the Mujahideen when Russian forces withdrew after almost a decade of fighting.

Since the war in Ukraine began on February 24, Ukraine claims to have destroyed 204 Russian aircraft, 168 helicopters, 460 unmanned aerial vehicles, 1,263 tanks and 3,090 armored vehicles since the war began, along with almost 30,000 troops.

Russia has also lost 200 multiple rocket launcher systems, 2,162 vehicles, 103 cruise missiles, 93 anti-aircraft systems and 13 boats, the Ukrainian military said.

Body count estimates during wartime are notoriously unreliable, due to the fog-of-war.

Fighting is intensifying in the Donbas region, with Ukrainian president Zelensky saying that up to 100 Ukrainians are dying every day in battle with the Russians in the east.

On May 16, the New York Times reported that 480 Russian soldiers died attempting to bridge a river in the Donbas.

The news comes as Russian army veteran Igor Girkin - who goes by the nom-de-guerre Igor Strelkov, meaning 'shooter' - said Russia has no hope of winning its war in Ukraine even if it manages to seize the whole of Donbas

He said Russian units are suffering huge losses by trying to attack deeply entrenched Ukrainian troops.

Russia had made gains on the Donbas front in recent days, capturing towns around Popansa and pushing to encircle Severodonetsk.

But Strelkov says Ukraine is fast-mobilising new troops, rearming using Western weapons, and digging into new defensive positions that will be hard to overrun.

He added that general conscription of the Russian population could turn the tide, but Putin was unlikely to do so because of his belief that Russia may be close to victory in the war.

Strelkov predicts the Russian offensive will grind to a halt around mid-June. Ukraine is then likely to switch to counter attacks as it did around Kyiv and Kharkiv.