Dramatic moment column of Putin’s tanks is destroyed by Ukrainian artillery in ambush that killed ANOTHER top commander

DRAMATIC footage shows the moment a column of Russian tanks is destroyed by a Ukrainian ambush near Kyiv The attack has claimed the life of yet another senior Russian commander as Vladimir Putin’s forces press on the capital city of Ukraine. ReutersThe column of Russian tanks coming under fire[/caption] President of Russia / twitterColonel Andrei Zakharov was reportedly the killed in the attack[/caption] Video taken from a Ukrainian drone shows the tanks bombarded with artillery in the devastating ambush and forced to turn back, near Brovary. Moscow’s forces have continued making rapid advances towards the capital, approaching Brovary, a large eastern suburb. An intercepted radio conversation appears to reveal the column took heavy losses with the regimental commander killed. It was reported the dead officer was Colonel Andrei Zakharov, commander of a tank regiment, who was awarded the Order of Courage from Vladimir Putin himself in 2016. READ MORE ON UKRAINE Other footage taken from the scene of the ambush, shows burning Russian vehicles on the road. Fighting has intensified in the Brovary area, with Ukrainian forces trying to repel the Russian tank. Most read in News RED LINE Live updates as Nato could STEP-IN if Putin crosses chemical weapons 'red-line' EVIL UPON EVIL Girl, 6, among three killed in ‘genocidal’ airstrike on maternity hospital BRITISH LION I’m one of the first Brits to join Ukraine – they fight like lions PERV MISS Sly texts teacher, 23, sent to victim’s mum before having sex with pupil, 14 'WONDERFUL MAN' Tributes to husband, 53, stabbed to death after bumping into 'feral' youths PAEDO DJ Ex-BBC Radio One DJ found guilty of arranging sex with kids in Philippines “They shoot to scare people and force them to stay at home, steal what they can to get supplies and settle among the inhabitants, so that the Ukrainian forces do not bomb them,” said Volodymyr, a 41-year-old resident of Velyka Dymerka, nine miles from Brovary. Overnight, the Ukrainian General Staff said Russian forces were continuing their “offensive operation” to encircle Kyiv, while pressing attacks on a string of other cities across the country. Vadym Denysenko, adviser to the interior ministry, said Ukrainian forces had managed to stop the attack in Irpin and were counter-attacking on Thursday morning with battles now underway. “The night was quite difficult, but in general we can say that the Ukrainian army counterattacked near Kyiv,” he said. Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War said the Russian mission to assault the Ukrainian capital is now underway. Meanwhile, in Mariupol in the south of Ukraine, pictures show corpses being put in body bags and dumped in mass graves following heavy shelling. Workers can be seen digging a 25 yard trench at one of the old cemeteries in the besieged port city, making the sign of the cross as they push the dead bodies into the pit. It comes after Russia shelled a maternity hospital in Mariupol, killing three, including a six-year-old girl. A further 17 people were injured, including heavily-pregnant women.