Moment Ukrainian troops inside Humvee survive landmine blast while storming Russian position
- Incredible cockpit footage captured the sheer force of the landmine blast
This is the moment a contingent of Kyiv’s soldiers drove over and detonated a landmine in eastern Ukraine – and miraculously lived to tell the tale.
The group was driving through a field in a Humvee, engaged in a firefight with Russian invaders, when all of a sudden they were brought to a shuddering halt as the landmine exploded.
Incredible cockpit footage captured the sheer force of the blast, with flames and a brutal shockwave reverberating through the cabin of the US-made armoured vehicle.
But the thick armour plating on the vehicle’s undercarriage managed to deflect much of the force, and saved the men inside from being torn to pieces by shrapnel.
Despite the punishing blast, the Ukrainian soldiers reacted quickly – one clambered down from the machine gun turret while two other passengers dove out of the vehicle to seek cover from oncoming Russian fire.
The Ukrainian soldiers are riding along in an armoured vehicle prior to the blast
The force of the landmine explosion is brutal, sending a shockwave blasting through the cabin
But the soldiers immediately scramble to find cover and begin firing back at Russian troops
Ukrainian soldier is seen crouching in long grass following the explosion, having evacuated the Humvee
A Ukrainian soldier fires in Donetsk region, Ukraine, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2023
Ukrainian journalist Yuriy Butusov not only captured the explosion and the gunfight on his cameras, but experienced them firsthand, having been embedded with the military unit at the time of the attack.
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Sharing the footage on YouTube and social media, he said: ‘A heavy assault together with the fighters of the 59th brigade.
‘The Humvee in which I was riding with the fighters blew up, the tank that supported us blew up, Russian artillery covered us on a minefield.
‘But the assault groups of the 59th brigade regrouped and went on the assault again, destroyed the resistance and shot down a Russian FPV drone and took one of the important Russian positions at the crossroads of landings that allows us to move forward.
‘This is how the heavy steps of the Ukrainian infantry, which so hard liberated another large field and two landings from the enemy, look like from inside the battle.’
Ukraine’s ministry of defence also shared the video, using it as an opportunity to display the importance of Western military aid in the ongoing struggle against Moscow’s forces.
It tweeted: ‘Insane footage from inside a Ukrainian HMMWV during combat.
‘Thank you to the American people! Your Humvees save the lives of our soldiers.’
The US, UK and the EU have contributed billions in military and humanitarian aid to help sustain Ukraine’s war effort, as Kyiv’s forces continue their grinding battle against Putin’s soldiers with varying degrees of success.
The Ukrainian military on Thursday morning announced the recapture of the village of Urozhaine from Russian troops in the southeast, but warned the situation on the northeastern front was deteriorating amid Russian counter-attacks.
Urozhaine, on the edge of Donetsk region, is the first village Kyiv says it has retaken since July 27, a sign of the challenge Ukraine faces advancing through heavily mined Russian defensive lines without powerful air support.
‘Urozhaine is liberated,’ Defence Minister Hanna Maliar said on the Telegram messaging app. ‘Our defenders are entrenched on the outskirts.’
Ukrainian soldiers fire SPG recoilless gun at a forest in the direction of Torske frontline, as the Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast
Ukrainian soldiers prepare to board a pickup truck in the direction of Torske frontline as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 15, 2023.
Ukrainian soldiers prepare a SPG recoilless gun to fire in the direction of Torske frontline as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine on August 15, 2023
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, right, poses for a photo with serviceman during his visit to the headquarters of brigades at the front line near Soledar, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023.
The village is one of several small rural settlements near the Mokri Yaly river that Ukraine has declared liberated since early June, when it launched a long-touted counteroffensive against Russian troops who occupy swathes of the south and east.
Its recapture would bring Kyiv closer to threatening the village of Staromlynivka, several kilometres to the south, which military analysts say is a Russian stronghold in the area.
Russia’s defence ministry did not confirm losing Urozhaine in a statement on Telegram but said its artillery and warplanes were attacking Ukrainian forces in the Urozhaine area.
The village’s recapture would indicate Ukraine is pressing ahead with an offensive drive south towards the Sea of Azov that aims to cut Russian occupying forces in half. Urozhaine lies just over 55 miles from the Sea of Azov.
Hours after the Urozhaine announcement, Oleksandr Syrskyi, one of Ukraine’s top generals, said the situation on the Kupiansk front in the northeastern region of Kharkiv was growing more difficult.
Kupiansk, a town with a pre-war population of around 27,000, was seized by Russia in the early days of the February 2022 invasion before Ukrainian troops recaptured it in a lightning offensive last September that embarrassed Moscow.
‘Due to the complication of the situation in the Kupiansk direction, I worked most of the day with units that lead the defence on the approaches to the city,’ Syrskyi was quoted as saying by Ukraine’s Military Media Centre.
‘The enemy is trying to break through the defences of our troops every day, in different directions, with assault squads consisting mainly of convicts, with the aim of blockading and then capturing Kupiansk,’ he said.
Losing Kupiansk a second time would be a major blow to Kyiv’s battlefield momentum at a time when its summer counter-offensive has so far failed to deliver significant territorial gains, except for villages such as Urozhaine.
Regional authorities announced a mandatory evacuation of civilians from near the Kupiansk front earlier this month due to daily Russian shelling.
‘Our house is the only one standing, there are no other houses left intact around ours,’ said Oleh Yanytskyi, a resident of the village of Kurylivka who was evacuated by the Ukrainian Red Cross this week.
Kyiv says its counteroffensive is progressing slower than it wanted because of vast Russian minefields and prepared Russian defensive lines.
Russia controls nearly a fifth of Ukraine, including the peninsula of Crimea, most of Luhansk region and large tracts of the regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson.
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