A Ukrainian soldier fires rocket-propelled grenades at Russian enemies a stone’s throw away

Incredible footage showed a Ukrainian soldier shooting their Russian enemies, who were just a few feet away, with a rocket-propelled grenade and machine gun.

The shocking clip, shot in Bakhmut, captured the moment a Ukrainian troop launched an open-fire attack on Russian soldiers just after they found its own “Russian trophy.”

The five-minute video began with a single soldier marching through a deserted field as the scorching sun dried out the surrounding land as he made his way to an outhouse.

The video jumped to the inside of the abandoned building, which was filled with fellow Ukrainian fighters, where soldiers spotted a Russian trooper and launched a grenade in their direction.

The footage captured the harrowing sounds of gunfire and explosives as the Ukrainian fighter fired his fatal shot and was ordered to load ‘another’ – he then confirmed that his comrade ‘definitely killed or injured someone’.

After the team split up to avoid being targeted for shelling, the clip jumped to a soldier holding up a machine gun while claiming it was his “Russian trophy rifle” which was reportedly marked with the flag .

The footage then shows a first-person perspective of the fighter as he hid behind a wall and opened fire on his enemy with a machine gun.

The soldier begged his enemy to come out of hiding as he aimed his weapon in their direction.

After a large explosion just a few feet in front of him, the soldier opened fire, firing his rifle continuously until he ran out of bullets.

This footage was released after pressure mounted on Saturday on Ukrainian troops and civilians ensconced in Bakhmut, as Kiev’s armed forces attempted to help residents flee amid what Western analysts say may be preparations for a Ukrainian withdrawal from the eastern city which Russian troops have been trying for months. to establish.

A woman was killed and two men were badly injured by shelling as they tried to cross a makeshift bridge from Bakhmut on Saturday, according to Ukrainian troops who helped them.

A representative of the Ukrainian army, who asked not to be named for operational reasons, said it was now too dangerous for civilians to leave the city in Donetsk province by vehicle and people had to flee on foot instead .

Comrades were able to confirm that the soldier had killed or at least wounded a Russian fighter from the response they received after a grenade launch

The clip showed the moment when the Ukrainian soldier spotted the Russian trooper just a few feet away before throwing a grenade in their direction

Bakhmut has been a prime target of Moscow’s dragging eastern offensive for months, with Russian forces, including large forces from the privately owned Wagner Group, closing in on Kiev’s main eastern stronghold.

A pontoon bridge was erected by Ukrainian soldiers to help the town’s few remaining residents reach the nearby village of Khromove. Later, they saw at least five houses on fire due to attacks in Khromove.

Over the past 36 hours, Ukrainian units have destroyed two key bridges just outside Bakhmut, including one connecting it to the nearby town of Chasiv Yar along the last remaining Ukrainian supply route, according to British military intelligence officials and other Western analysts.

The British Ministry of Defense said in the latest of its regular Twitter updates that the destruction of the bridges came as Russian fighters pushed further into Bakhmut’s northern suburbs and increased pressure on Ukrainian defenders.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, ruled late Friday that Kiev’s actions may indicate an imminent Ukrainian withdrawal from parts of the city.

It said Ukrainian troops could “carry out a limited and controlled withdrawal from particularly difficult parts of eastern Bachmut” as they try to curb Russian movements there and limit exit routes to the west.

The capture of Bakhmut would not only give Russian fighters a rare battlefield gain after months of setbacks, but it could also sever Ukraine’s supply lines and allow Kremlin forces to advance on other Ukrainian strongholds in the eastern region. Donetsk region.

As the fighting continued, civilians remaining in the area spoke of their daily struggle amid near-constant enemy fire.

Bakhmut resident Hennadiy Mazepa and his wife Natalia Ishkova both chose to remain in Bakhmut, even as fierce fighting left much of the city in ruins. Ishkova said they suffered from a lack of food and basic services.

“We only get humanitarian (aid) once a month. There is no electricity, no water, no gas,” she said.

“I pray to God that everyone left here will survive,” Ishkova added.

Speaking at the United Nations on Friday, deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said UN humanitarian workers reported “intense hostilities” near Bakhmut and that the organization’s few humanitarian partners on the ground are focusing on evacuating the most vulnerable people from the conflict zone.’

Russia’s defense chief traveled to the embattled eastern Ukraine on Saturday to inspect the troops and award them with state awards, the Russian defense ministry said.

The footage also showed the moment when a fighter hid behind a brick wall as he waited to shoot a Russian soldier as soon as he came out of hiding.

After the grenade and machine gun attack was launched, the Ukrainian troops were told to reload

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu visited a Russian armed forces command post in the east, where he was briefed by regional commander Rustam Muradov, according to a video released by the ministry. The video did not reveal the location of the command post.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian emergency services reported Saturday morning that the death toll from a Russian missile strike that hit a five-story apartment building in southern Ukraine on Thursday has risen to 11.

The main directorate of Ukraine’s state emergency service said in an online statement that rescuers pulled three more bodies from the wreckage overnight, some 36 hours after a Russian missile pierced four floors of the building in the riverside city of Zaporizhzhia. It said a child was among the dead and the rescue was underway.

Russian shelling on Saturday also killed two residents of frontline communities in the surrounding Zaporizhzhia region, the local military administration said in a Telegram message.

A 57-year-old woman and a 68-year-old man also died in Nikopol, a town further west adjacent to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, when Russian troops stationed there fired artillery shells and rockets into Ukrainian-held territory across the river the Dnieper. regional governor Serhiy Lysak reported on Saturday.

In the western city of Lviv, hundreds of kilometers from the war front lines, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy met the head of the European Union parliament on Saturday.

The incredible images captured the harrowing reality of people’s homes

Fields were scorched by the sun and buildings lay in ruins from the shooting and shelling

Bakhmut has been a prime target of Moscow’s ongoing eastern offensive for months

Hours earlier, Zelensky had talks with US Attorney General Merrick Garland and European legal officials about how to hold Russia accountable for its actions in Ukraine.

In a joint press briefing with Zelensky, European Parliament President Roberta Metsola said that “all those responsible” for suspected Russian war crimes in Ukraine, including Russian President Vladimir Putin, must be brought to justice before lasting peace can be achieved.

Metsola expressed support for the EU’s announcement Thursday that an international center for the prosecution of the crime of aggression – the act of invading another country – would be set up in The Hague to investigate Russia’s invasion.

She also called on Ukraine to begin negotiations to join the 27-country bloc as early as this year, and urged Western countries to continue arming the country’s military as it strives to defeat Russian forces in the east. and south at a distance.

The future of Ukraine lies in the European Union. We’ll walk with you all the way,” Metsola said on Twitter on Friday.

The EU agreed in June to help Ukraine move towards membership, starting a process that could take years or even decades.

However, the invasion of Moscow and Ukraine’s request for expedited treatment have made negotiations urgent.