Russian tanks have been captured in new footage just 13 miles from the centre of Kyiv as they “tighten the noose” around the Ukraine capital.
Despite the valiant fighting for every inch of ground by Ukrainians, the Russians have been trying to encircle Kyiv and cut the city off while forcing it into submission through continual shelling.
Now a video shows Russian tanks and soldiers moving through Irpin, a satellite town on the edges of Kyiv which has been the scene of horrific bombings in recent days.
Tatyana Perebeynos was killed along with her two children when she tried to escape Irpin on Sunday along with other refugees after being hit by Russian shelling.
Images of their stricken bodies on the roadside were beamed around the world and showed the savagery of the conflict.
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The town of Irpin was devastated by the shelling with buildings razed to the ground in a dystopian scene.
Electricity and water supplies were cut off to the town by the bombings forcing people to leave and Russian military can now be seen in Irpin bringing through tanks as they continue their march on Kyiv.
Around 16 soldiers have been filmed walking through the devastation and it is not clear from the video whether they are part of a larger convoy.
Some of the vehicles have the distinctive “V” sign that is used by the Russians while others are camouflaged and parked near trees in an apparent attempt to hide them.
A massive 40 mile-long Russian military convoy has been heading south from the Belarus border but it had ground to a halt apparently due to mechanical problems and a lack of supplies.
“It’s bad,” one resident who abandoned Irpin told ITN News.
“There’s no water, no electricity, nothing to cook with. Horrible. Our guys are saving us and friends are helping us."
The woman said she had travelled 500 miles from the besieged town of Mariupol to Irpin to help care for her grandchildren in the town.
She explained“They (my children) left with the babies but they didn’t manage to come back.”
The sighting of the Russians close to the capital comes amid claims that they are “tightening the noose” around Kyiv, by a western official who has predicted “horrific” scenes when they arrive.
“I think around Kyiv they are continuing to tighten the noose .. this is definitely not over. They are still set on moving in. It’ll be utterly horrific when they do,” they said, reported The Times.
Ukrainians have said they will defend Kyiv to the death and have been preparing with barricades, trenches and molotov cocktails.
And Franz-Stefan Gady, a research fellow with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, is doubtful whether the Russians can take Kyiv.
“In terms of size and population, Kyiv is fairly similar to Berlin in April 1945. It took the Soviets 1.5 million men to take that city with horrendous casualties. This doesn’t mean that they could not flatten the city with massive firepower,” he said.
