SHOCKING new images show the scenes of devastation where Russian troops were massacred trying to cross a river in Ukraine.
Vladimir Putin’s forces made three disastrous attempts to cross the Donets River but reportedly lost 1000 troops, including a top Colonel.
Two battalions are said to have been wiped out after the suicidal mission to rescue comrades and kit that got stranded on the wrong side of the Donets River in the first disastrous assault.
Satellite images have previously laid bare the true scale of the destruction of the failed assault along the river near Bilohorivka, west of Lysychansk.
But in new video taken on the ground, charred remains of Russian vehicles can be seen, laying bare the devastation.
Abandoned vehicles with uniforms strewn around the ground are also visible as evidence of the latest Russian defeat in the Ukraine war.
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Hundreds of Russian vehicles and men were reportedly trapped after their attempt to cross the waterway on May 8 failed in spectacular fashion.
Pontoon bridges were blown apart by the Ukrainians, who correctly guessed the exact place the enemy would cross.
Colonel Denis Kozlov, 40, was among Russian troops obliterated attempting to cross the Donets River after being ambushed by Ukrainian forces last week.
Their second and third missions also apparently ended in costly failure, with fresh satellite images showing another sunken pontoon bridge and half a dozen abandoned military vehicles.
In total, Russia lost more than 70 tanks, trucks and armoured cars in four days of attempts to cross the river, according to Ukrainian investigative site InformNapalm.
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The photos show two destroyed pontoon bridges drifting down the waterway surrounded by bombed out tanks and armoured vehicles.
It appears Russian commanders tried to surround the cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk by crossing the body of water.
Maxim, a Twitter user claiming to be a Ukrainian military engineer, said he identified the exact spot Russia was most likely to cross on May 7.
He then told his commanders, who ordered troops to be on the look-out for sounds of tugboat engines pushing a pontoon bridge.
On May 8, Russian troops blanketed the river by burning nearby fields and let off smoke grenades, the military engineer said.
His commanders detected the sound of boat engines and used drones to spot the battalion before ordering a devastating artillery strike.
“Roughly 20 minutes after recon unit confirmed the Russian bridge was being mounted, heavy artillery engaged against Russian forces, and then aviation chipped in as well,” Maxim said.
“I was still in the area, and I have never seen or heard such heavy combat in my life. After one day of combat, 9th May morning the bridge was down.
“Some Russian forces – roughly 30 to 50 vehicles and infantry – were stuck on the Ukrainian side of the river with no way back.
“They tried to run away using the broken bridge. Then they tried to arrange a new bridge.
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“Aviation started heavy bombing of the area and it destroyed all the remains of Russians there, and the other bridge they tried to make.”
The River Donets is just one of several water barriers the Russians need to cross in order to advance West into Ukrainian-held territory and complete its aim of capturing the Donbass.
Ukrainian forces thwarted a surprise Russian attack by correctly guessing where they would cross[/caption]
