This aerial nighttime footage shows how a Russian tank is blasted to smithereens by Ukrainian munitions.

Newsflash obtained the footage from the Ukrainian Ground Forces (ZSU) yesterday (Monday, 16th May).

The ZSU said: “Thus, the 93rd Independent Kholodnyi Yar Mechanised Brigade evaporates Russian tanks near Izium.”

The 93rd Mechanised Brigade is a formation of the Ukrainian Ground Forces garrisoned in Cherkaske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, east-central Ukraine.

Izium is a city in Kharkiv Oblast, eastern Ukraine. It has been under Russian military occupation since 1st April.

Ukrainian forces are currently counter-attacking in the Izium direction.

The tank seen being blown up in the footage is believed to be a T-72B3 main battle tank, which entered service in 2013 and is crewed by three men.

A volunteer fighter named Roman Donik reported that the tank driver was no doubt killed in the blast.

He said the other two crew members initially escaped, but it is not clear if they survived the moment when the tank’s munitions detonated towards the end of the video.

He said the tank was found by a DJI Mavic 3 camera drone.

Russia invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is now calling a “special military operation” to “protect Donbass”.

Today marks the 83rd day of the invasion.

From 24th February to 17th May, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 27,900 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,235 tanks, 3,009 armoured fighting vehicles, 578 artillery systems, 198 multiple launch rocket systems, 90 anti-aircraft systems, 201 warplanes, 167 helicopters, 2,109 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 13 vessels, 436 unmanned aerial vehicles, 43 units of special equipment and 97 cruise missiles.

The Ukrainian military added that the Russian Armed Forces’ greatest losses yesterday were sustained in the Lyman and Zaporizhzhia directions.

Elsewhere, more than 260 Ukrainian soldiers left the Azovstal metallurgical plant and were taken to Russian-controlled territory last night. It is believed they will be exchanges for Russian prisoners of war.

Efforts to rescue the last remaining Ukrainian fighters holed up in the steelworks – located in the strategic port city of Mariupol – are said to be ongoing.

And Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has suggested that he may block Finland’s and Sweden’s applications to join NATO after he accused the Nordic nations of harbouring Kurdish militants whom he regards as “terrorists”.