Brutal footage of Russian infantrymen unwittingly entering the crosshairs of an armoured car’s deadly cannon has been released by Ukrainian officials.

Newsflash obtained the footage from the Strategic Communications Directorate, Office of the Chief of Defence, Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) yesterday (Sunday, 24th April).

It apparently shows a BTR-4E infantry fighting vehicle (IFV) letting rip as Russian forces enter its field of fire.

The directorate wrote: “BTR-4E ‘Bucephalus’ destroys Russia. Beautiful.”

The BTR-4E is a version of the BTR-4 amphibious 8×8 wheeled IFV.

It is designed by the Kharkiv Morozov Machine Building Design Bureau – a state-owned company in Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Its main armament is a 30 mm (1.2 in) autocannon.

Its secondary armaments are a 7.62 mm (0.3 in) coaxial machine gun and either four anti-tank missiles or two anti-tank missiles and a 30mm (1.2 in) automatic grenade launcher.

It has been in service since 2014 and is reportedly operated by at least five countries, including Ukraine.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is calling a “special military operation” to “demilitarise and denazify” the country.

The invasion is now in its 61st day.

The General Staff of the AFU reported earlier today that Russia had lost about 21,900 military personnel over the course of the invasion thus far.

The AFU also reported that Russia had lost 884 tanks, 2,258 armoured fighting vehicles, 411 artillery systems, 149 multiple launch rocket systems, 69 anti-aircraft systems, 181 warplanes, 154 helicopters, 1,566 vehicles, eight vessels, 76 fuel tankers, 201 tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, 28 units of special equipment and four mobile short-range ballistic missile systems.

The report comes as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says Russia is failing in all of its war aims in Ukraine, following his short visit to the besieged country.

The talks involving Blinken and US Defence Secretary Lloyd Austin in Kyiv on Sunday mark the highest-level visit by US officials since the Russian invasion began.

Officials say Washington has pledged over USD 700 million (GBP 549 million) in additional military aid to Kyiv.

Meanwhile, civilian deaths have been reported in Kharkiv and Donetsk as Russian shelling continues in the besieged east of the country.

Though the focus of the Russian invasion is now firmly on Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Ukrzaliznytsia (Ukrainian Railways) is reporting that five train stations in the centre and west of the country have come under attack, resulting in a number of casualties.

The attacks took place within an hour of one another this morning, said Oleksander Kamyshin, who heads the state company.