- Ukraine's Ministry of Defense released video of artillery strikes on Russian vehicles outside Kyiv.
- The aerial footage, dated March 8, shows at least eight strikes outside the town of Borodyanka.
- Borodyanka is around 45 miles from the center of Kyiv, and has been the scene of fierce fighting.
A video released Thursday by the Ukrainian military showed precision artillery strikes on what officials said was a line of Russian military vehicles not far from Kyiv.
The aerial footage appears to have been recorded at a distance by a drone. It shows at least eight strikes on vehicles on a rural road identified by the Ukrainian defense ministry as being outside the town of Borodyanka.
The video, with the date mark of March 8, was posted on Facebook and Twitter on Thursday to channels run by the Ukrainian armed forces.
—Defence of Ukraine (@DefenceU) March 10, 2022
The footage pauses at the moment of a burst of fire on the central vehicle in a line of three — either tanks or self-propelled artillery. Then the other two appear to be picked off. Further strikes follow.
Insider used geolocation to identify the likely location of the strikes. Satellite imagery showed a distinctively-shaped road formation and gas station which matched the aerial footage.
Lieutenant-Generaly Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander-in-chief of Ukraine's army, described the operation as "delicate," per the defense ministry.
It is a distinction Ukrainian forces may be keen to emphasize in the face of seemingly indiscriminate shelling from Russian forces that hit residential buildings, schools, and hospitals.
That includes Borodyanka, which lies around 45 miles from the center of Kyiv and has been a scene of some of the fiercest fighting around the capital.
The town of around 13,000 was bombarded in the Russian advance. On March 3, drone footage emerged of the town's devastation, showing the still-smoking shells of apartment buildings.
Local media reported that one of the places hit was a veterans' rehabilitation center, per the Kyiv Independent.
A Pentagon assessment of Russian advances on Kyiv from March 8 said that a major column of Russian in the region remained.
"Near Kyiv, we still observe that Russian forces have not moved closer to the city center," a DOD official said. "The closest they've been able to get is the airport."
In briefings on March 8 and 9, a Pentagon official said that around 90-95% of Russian combat power remains intact, despite fierce resistance from Ukraine and widespread video and photo evidence of destroyed Russian armor.