STING IN TAIL
Watch heart-stopping moment massive Russian armoured column is besieged and wiped out by swarm of Ukrainian drones
This comes as Ukraine demands long-range missiles from Western allies to launch attacks inside Russia
THIS is the dramatic moment Ukrainian drones wiped out a massive column of Russian armoured vehicles.
Filmed near Pokrovsky, in the east of Ukraine, the footage shows a large-scale assault on Vladimir Putin's invading troops as the bloody war rages on.
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The video, shared by Ukraine on various online platforms including X and Telegram, shows smoke billowing from the destroyed Russian tanks after the devastating aerial attack.
The caption reads: "In the Pokrovsky direction, the Russians are attempting assaults with entire columns of equipment.
";Titans of the 21st OBSP OPBr meet them with FPV drones.
"A separate battalion of special forces, together with the 46th OAeMBr and the 59th OMPBr, congratulate Ukraine on the Day of Tank Troops by reducing the number of tanks of the Russian Federation."
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The drone attack comes after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin vowed to "melt" Kyiv if Ukraine uses British missiles to strike Russia.
Putin's chief lapdog Dmitry Medvedev said permission for Ukraine to fire the rockets over enemy lines would spark a fierce response on its capital.
Referring to Kyiv he wrote in a Telegram post: "And that would be it. A giant, grey, melted spot instead of ‘the mother of Russian cities’."
He also ranted about how "Russia is showing patience" but that the West should not assume Putin would balk at "crossing the line" or triggering an "apocalypse" with nuclear weapons.
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Ukraine 'dragon drones' rain fire down on Russian troops hiding in treeline
Medvedev threatened to use hypersonic missiles to sink Britain if Zelensky's armies were granted the go-ahead with UK Storm Shadow missiles.
Earlier this week Sir Keir Starmer was in Washington DC for crunch talks with Joe Biden.
Last night the Kremlin accused six British diplomats of espionage and revoked their accreditation, according to Russian news outlets.
The FSB, Russia's secret service, hasn't named any of the six diplomats but insisted that they were a threat to the pariah state's security.
Ageing despot Putin made the comments about the use of Nato-member missiles to Russian state-controlled TV on Thursday.
Answering a question about the probable outcome, Putin added: "If that's the case, then taking into account the change of nature of the conflict, we will take the appropriate decisions based on the threats that we will face."
But plucky Sir Keir batted away the threat saying: “Russia started this conflict. Russia illegally invaded Ukraine. Russia can end this conflict straight away.
“Ukraine has the right to self defence, and obviously we've been absolutely fully supportive of Ukraine's right to self defence, providing training capabilities.
"But we don't seek any conflict with Russia, that's not our intention in the slightest. But they started this conflict, and Ukraine's got a right to self defence."
Russia launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
After more than 900 days of war, Russia and Ukraine show no sign of letting up in the fight or moving closer to the negotiating table.
Recently, Ukraine began a large scale push into Russian territory.
It was the first-ever invasion on Russian soil since World War Two.
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Russians have been scrambling to defend Kyiv's audacious move, which sparked a "counter-terror" operation in regions of Belgorod, Bryansk and Kursk.
Russia has sent their own tanks, trucks and troops in to fight Ukrainian troops who caught them off-guard.
Why has the Ukrainian invasion of Russia been so successful?
By Georgie English, Foreign News Reporter
A DARING Ukrainian military push into Russia's Kursk region has become the largest attack on the country since World War Two.
Kyiv's forces have seized scores of villages, taken hundreds of prisoners and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.
After more than a week of fighting, Russian troops are still struggling to drive out the invaders.
Why has Russian military been caught so unprepared?
A long undefended border
Russia's regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod share a 720-mile border with Ukraine - including a 152-mile section in the Kursk region.
And it only had symbolic protection before Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
It's been reinforced since then with checkpoints on key roads and field fortifications in places - but not enough to repel a Ukrainian assault.
The most capable Russian units are fighting in eastern Ukraine, leaving the border vulnerable to attack.
Element of surprise
Ukrainian troops participating in the incursion were reportedly only told about their mission a day before it began.
The secrecy contrasted with last year's counteroffensive - when Ukraine openly declared its goal of cutting the land corridor to annexed Crimea.
Ukraine ended up failing as troops trudged through Russian minefields and were pummelled by artillery and drones.
But in Kursk, Ukrainian troops didn't face any of these obstacles.
Battle-hardened units easily overwhelmed Russian border guards and small infantry units made up of inexperienced conscripts.
The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions - facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic.
Russia's slow response
The Russian military command initially relied on warplanes and choppers to try to stop the onslaught.
At least one Russian helicopter gunship was shot down and another was damaged.
Moscow began pulling in reinforcements, managing to slow Ukraine's advances - but failed to completely block troops.
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