After refusing Moscow’s ultimatum to lay down their arms, Ukrainian troops filmed themselves blowing up a Russian tank with an anti-tank guided missile in Mariupol.
In the video, a Ukrainian soldier from the Azov Battalion fires the missile directly at the Russian military vehicle, causing a black plume of smoke.
After the successful hit, the soldier quickly retreats inside a building in Mariupol, his comrade across the street holding a grenade launcher.
According to the Azov Battalion, Russia told Ukrainian troops holed up in the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol to lay down their arms within two hours or die.
The Russian defence ministry ordered all troops out of the steel plant between 1400 and 1600 Moscow time (1100 and 1300 GMT).
‘All who lay down their arms will live,’ the ministry added.
Kiev today said Russia’s new offensive in eastern Ukraine will fail due to weak Russian forces. The Azovstal plant in Mariupol, a strategic port city on the Sea of Azov, is the last major Ukrainian pocket of resistance.
Mariupol, surrounded by Russian troops for weeks, has seen the most intense fighting and destruction since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. Putin’s troops launched their new offensive in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine, and Russia claimed it had hit over 1,200 Ukrainian targets with missiles, airstrikes, and artillery.
