This is the moment defiant Ukrainians manning a truck-mounted rocket launcher system continue to fire back despite a Russian attack that damaged them and destroyed neighbouring vehicles.

Newsflash obtained the footage from the Russian Ministry of Defence (MoD) on Monday afternoon (28th March), with the MoD saying that the footage shows the “destruction of Ukrainian MLRS ‘Grad’ installations”.

MLRS stands for Multiple Launch Rocket System in military speak, and the ‘Grad’ most likely refers to the BM-21 Grad or a variant thereof, which is a truck-mounted rocket launcher system first developed by the Soviet Union in the 1960s. This type of vehicle is able to fire a large volume of rockets in quick succession.

The Russian MoD did not say where exactly in Ukraine these images were filmed, but the footage, which appears to have been shot from a drone, shows a number of explosions on the ground, which could either be the result of the vehicle or vehicles firing or Russian forces successfully hitting them with their own ordnance.

The footage then cuts to what appears to be a close-up of the same location, with explosions seen occurring on the ground and a large plume of black smoke rising into the air as the military vehicles are allegedly destroyed.

But after what the Russian MoD said was an attack that resulted in the successful destruction of the Ukrainian ‘Grad’ military vehicles, at least one can apparently be seen still firing multiple rockets.

The heroic last stand can be seen as the badly blasted unit continues to fight to the last missile.

And one rocket appears to veer off course after it is fired, seemingly heading towards the drone filming the scene before changing course again.

It is unclear if the forces on the ground were targeting the UAV. One more rocket is fired before the footage ends abruptly.

The last rocket appears to not have been targeted correctly and only travels a short distance before disappearing into the smoke, presumably hitting the ground.

It is currently unclear if this final rocket is indicative that the Russian MoD’s assessment of the situation was correct, or whether it is indicative that they had not successfully destroyed all of the forces on the ground.

The Russian MoD’s images and statement were carried by state-controlled media outlets as well, all toeing the Kremlin’s line.

The Russian authorities have threatened media outlets that call President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine a “war” instead of their preferred designation of “special military operation”.

The Nobel prize-winning journalist Dmitry Muratov, who is one of the few remaining independent media voices left in Russia, recently interviewed Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, with the Russian media watchdog Roskomnadzor warning Russian outlets against publishing the interview.

Roskomnadzor said in an official statement on its website: “Roskomnadzor warns Russian media about the need to refrain from publishing this interview.”

The statement also said that it had begun an investigation “to determine the degree of responsibility and take response measures”.

Muratov is the editor-in-chief of the Novaya Gazeta, which has repeatedly defied Putin’s ban on calling the events in Ukraine a “war”.

Muratov co-founded Novaya Gazeta in 1993 and shares his Nobel Peace Prize with Filipina journalist Maria Ressa. He has been praised for his courage in defying repeated threats and for covering subjects that make the Russian government uneasy.

Novaya Gazeta has reported on corruption in the Russian government, as well as human-rights violations and police violence. It has also published articles that are critical of Putin.

Muratov has been a vocal defender of freedom of the press and for news media to remain independent from the state.