This is the moment pro-Russian troops film dead bodies strewn on the ground after seizing a village and cutting the Ukrainians of a major supply route into the city of Avdiivka.

The People’s Militia of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) said their troops, in cooperation with Russian units, had liberated the village of Novoselovka II and seized one of the two supply routes available to the Ukrainian forces in the process.

The militia said on 1st June: “Allied forces continue to encircle the Ukrainian unit in Avdiivka.

“The village of Novoselovka II was liberated from Ukrainian occupation. The forces of the NM DPR took control of a section of the route, finally cutting off the Avdiivka garrison from one of the two available supply routes.”

In the footage, DPR troops are seen arriving in the village and finding killed Ukrainian soldiers on the ground before rolling along the main road into the village in their tank after apparently claiming the area.

Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is still calling a “special military operation”. Today marks the 98th day of the campaign.

From 24th February to 1st June, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 30,700 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,361 tanks, 3,343 armoured fighting vehicles, 659 artillery systems, 207 multiple launch rocket systems, 94 anti-aircraft systems, 208 warplanes, 175 helicopters, 2,290 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 vessels, 519 unmanned aerial vehicles, 49 units of special equipment, and 120 cruise missiles.

In recent news, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called Russian strikes on a nitric acid tank in the besieged eastern city of Sievierodonetsk “madness”.

Residents of Sievierodonetsk have been warned to remain in bomb shelters and to prepare masks to protect against toxic fumes as the fighting intensifies.

Analysts say up to 70 per cent of the city is now controlled by invading Russian forces, with almost all critical infrastructure and housing destroyed.

United States President Joe Biden said he will send Kyiv more advanced rocket systems that will help to strike enemy forces from a longer distance.

These rocket systems have double the range of the rocket systems used by Russian forces and are said to be much more accurate.