Video shows a Ukrainian tank entering Russian trenches and opening fire at close range

Terrifying video shows the moment when Ukrainian tanks drove into Russian trenches and opened fire at close range in a daring assault on an enemy position while fighting off Putin’s invading forces.

In footage captured by a drone flying above the infernal World War I-style battlefield, a Ukrainian tank crew has been filmed using close-quarter tactics after coming under fire.

Ukraine’s 52nd Mechanized Brigade said the T-72 tank had broken through a “T position” of trenches previously captured by Russian forces. A Russian missile aimed at the tank narrowly missed it as it approached the trenches hidden in a tree line.

The 52nd Mechanized Brigade said the brutal scenes unfolded near the village of Verkhn’okam’yans’ke, 20 miles north of the town of Bakhmut – where the bloodiest fighting in the war took place since Putin invaded Ukraine last year.

Despite the danger, the crew plowed on across an open field before slowing down to look for enemy fighters.

The 52nd said the brutal scenes took place near the village of Verkhn’okam’yans’ke, 20 miles north of Bakhmut town.

A Russian missile (circled in red) aimed at the tank narrowly missed it as it approached the trenches hidden in a tree line

The drone’s camera zooms in on the Russian position, showing a group of soldiers huddled in a trench trying to get to safety. But they are too late.

In the short 10-minute clip, the Ukrainian tank repeatedly fires shells into the Russian trenches. Fiery blasts erupt before being dissipated by smoke. One of the Russian soldiers seems to throw a grenade into the air. It explodes on the baron’s ground, a few meters from the Ukrainian vehicle.

The tank turns before directing its fire at the pile of Russian soldiers crouching together in the trenches for cover. Another grenade is fired and a tree collapses to the ground. But as the Ukrainians try to plow on, the Kremlin’s troops aim a missile at the tank. The missile shoots over the tank and narrowly misses.

Despite the obvious danger, the Ukrainian military continued their advance.

The tank continues to roll back and forth across the trenches repeatedly. In the end, the excavations collapsed under the force of the machine.

After lengthy work to undo the trenches and destroy the Russian’s tactical terrain, Ukrainian troops move in on foot. One by one they run across the devastated ground.

In the distance, tanks continue to fire from both sides.

In the 10-minute clip, the Ukrainian tank fires shells repeatedly at the Russian trenches. Fiery blast erupts before being dissipated by smoke

The tank turns before aiming its fire at the pile of Russian soldiers crouching together in the trenches for cover

After lengthy work to undo the trenches and destroy the Russian’s tactical terrain, Ukrainian troops move in on foot

Fighting continues in and around the eastern city of Bakhmut. Ukraine has tried to mock Russian claims that they captured the city’s administrative center.

Kiev officials taunted their Kremlin invaders, saying Russian troops had hoisted a victory flag over “some kind of toilet.”

The battle for the mining town and logistics center of Bakhmut has been one of the bloodiest of the conflict with heavy casualties on both sides and much of the town destroyed.

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of the Wagner mercenary force that led the siege, said on Sunday his troops had raised a Russian flag on the administrative building in the city center, though Ukrainian soldiers still held some western positions.

Kiev officials taunted their Kremlin invaders, saying Russian troops had hoisted a victory flag over “some kind of toilet.” Pictured: Zelenskyy speaking at a joint press conference in Kiev, Ukraine, last Friday

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with workers during his visit to the Tulazheldormash plant, the leading Russian engineering company, in Tula on Tuesday

Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Wagner’s mercenaries, leads the siege of Bakhmut

But the Ukrainian military dismissed that claim, saying fighting raged around the town hall, as well as in other nearby towns.

“Bakhmut is Ukrainian and they have not captured anything and are far from doing so,” Serhiy Cherevatyi, spokesman for the eastern military command, told Reuters.

“They raised the flag over some kind of toilet. They attached it to the side of who knows what, hung up their rags and said they had captured the city. Well, let them think they got it,” Cherevatyi added over the phone.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in an evening statement that a total of 45 enemy attacks had been repelled in the past 24 hours, with Bakhmut as the “epicenter of operations”, along with the towns of Avdiivka and Maryinka further south.