DRAMATIC footage shows the moment a column of Russian tanks is destroyed by a Ukrainian ambush near Kyiv.

The attack has reportedly claimed the life of yet another senior Russian commander as Vladimir Putin’s forces press on the capital city of Ukraine.

The Ukrainians have now claimed to have killed over 12,000 Russians since Putin ordered his troops into their country.

The Russian tyrant expected to be a quick victory when he ordered the invasion two weeks ago but his forces have become bogged down and are regularly hitting civilian targets.

Moscow's forces were make rapid advances towards the Brovary, a large eastern suburb of Kyiv, in what is believed to be the start of an bid to seize the city.

But video taken from a Ukrainian drone shows the tanks bombarded with artillery in the devastating ambush and forced to turn back, near Brovary.

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.

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His death adds to the toll of Russian commanders killed during the invasion of Ukraine, which includes nine generals.

Earlier this week, Major General Vitaly Gerasimov was killed in fighting outside Ukraine's second city Kharkiv.

Other footage taken from the scene of the ambush, shows burning Russian vehicles on the road.

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Fighting has intensified in the Brovary area, with Ukrainian forces trying to repel the Russian tank.

"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.

It comes as…

• Russia has been accused of bombing a maternity hospital – killing three including a girl, 6 – as its bloody campaign continues
• Roman Abramovich has been sanctioned – banning him from selling Chelsea FC
• The club is now in limbo – with a transfer ban and being left unable to offer new deals to their players
• US officials warned Putin could unleash biological weapons as Kharkiv came under siege
• Russia has already been accused of using thermobaric "vacuum bombs" that can rupture people's lungs
• Cities in Ukraine have been reduced to harrowing apocalyptic hellscapes under Putin's merciless bombing
• A heartbroken Ukrainian dad pleaded "forgive me" as his entire family was wiped out by Russian strikes
• Europe's biggest nuclear plant has had its warning systems shut down after being taken over by the Russians

“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.

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