Purported Russian vehicles burn outside Kyiv in this photo provided by the Ukrainian government.
Purported Russian vehicles burn outside Kyiv in this photo provided by the Ukrainian government.Security Service of Ukraine
  • Ukraine forces attacked Russian vehicles thanks to a tip on Telegram, officials said Tuesday.
  • The vehicles were targeted outside Kyiv, according to the Security Service of Ukraine.
  • Russia's invasion of Ukraine has intensified as Russian troops reportedly shell civilian areas.

Ukrainian forces successfully attacked Russian vehicles in the capital city of Kyiv thanks to a public tip made through the encrypted messaging app Telegram, Ukraine's top law enforcement agency said on Tuesday.

The Security Service of Ukraine said in a tweet that it was able to effectively target Russian convoys near Kyiv through messages sent to an official Telegram bot account called "STOP Russian War."

"Your messages about the movement of the enemy through the official chatbot … bring new trophies every day," the government agency tweeted.

It added, "This time we received the coordinates of enemy vehicles marked 'V' in Kyiv region."

"The result is on this photo: fiery 'greetings' to the invaders," Security Service of Ukraine posted, along with a photo showing several military vehicles among plumes of black smoke.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the early morning hours of February 24, targeting several key cities with military strikes.

Ukrainian forces have since put up a strong resistance to the Russian troops amid the war that has already left hundreds of Ukrainian civilians, including children, dead. Ukrainian and international officials have accused Russia of targeting civilian populations with shelling and bombardments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces "destroy the invaders wherever we can."

But he said Russian troops "still have enough machinery to kill."

"There are still enough missiles for terror," he added.

Translations by Oleksandr Vynogradov

Read the original article on Business Insider