Drone video shows Russian tanks being attacked. (Ukrainian Military Defense)
After multiple days of significant fighting to the west and northwest of Kyiv — the capital of Ukraine — Thursday saw additional battlefields develop.
There has been “an alarming development today, which is a real uptick in Russian activity to the east of the city, beyond a suburb called Brovary. We saw some very heavy fighting there,” said CNN’s Clarissa Ward, in a live report from Kyiv.
We “also saw a large column of Russian tanks come under fire in this extraordinary drone video, which appears to show Ukrainian forces firing anti-tank missiles, like those javelins that the US military has supplied them with, and basically picking off tanks in that Russian convoy,” Ward told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
In addition to video of the battle, Ward noted that there is also relevant audio.
“There is a voice heard over this video. Apparently, the voice of a Russian soldier in that tank unit saying that his commander has been killed,” she said.
But as the Ukrainians fight to defend their position, it’s worrisome for citizens of Kyiv, Ward noted, that Russian forces are expanding their offensive.
“It is certainly of grave concern to everybody here in this city that the Russians appear to be making a real play, pushing east and then potentially, of course, pushing downwards, presumably, the goal would be to totally encircle the city [of Kyiv]. And meanwhile, so many civilians, Wolf, are still pinned down and trapped under heavy fighting,” she added.
Ward noted that Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs — Dmytro Kuleba — shared social media video showing the war’s impacts, especially on children.
“We saw a tweet today from the Foreign Minister, Dmytro Kuleba, where he … shows the true cost of this, which are the children who are so often the victims in this war. And [Kuleba] posted some dramatic video that was shot during an evacuation in a town called Vorzel, again to the northwest, of an orphanage. A young child, a toddler, Wolf, one of two very sick children being ferried out of that orphanage looking frankly, completely unconscious,” reported Ward.
As the fighting continues, so too does the civilian suffering in the suburb, Ward said.
“The people in this suburb have had no access to water, to medicine, to food, to gas, to heat, to electricity. It has been a completely traumatic experience and rescue workers still struggling to get into these hardest-hit areas and get Ukraine’s most vulnerable citizens out,” said Ward.
