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<\/p>\nPictured: Drone footage captured the moment Ukraine forces used British-made Brimstone missiles to destroy two Russian tanks almost simultaneously deep behind enemy lines<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
It is believed this is the first time the missiles have been fired from the ground in live combat, with earlier footage showing Ukraine forces training with the hi-tech weapons.<\/p>\n
The operation was reportedly carried out by special forces who had been trained to use the newly designed weapon.<\/p>\n
The \u00a3175,000 Brimstone came into service in 2005, with an updated version supplied to the RAF six years ago.<\/p>\n
As a ‘fire and forget’ missile, it strikes its target after being launched – without further intervention – using laser-seeking guidance or autonomous targeting.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\nPictured: After launching the missiles from a tractor, footage shows the explosives strike two Russian tanks within seconds of each other, sending smoke and debris flying up into the air<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPictured: A yellow circle highlights debris flying into the air after the tanks were destroyed<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The weapon is being used by the United Kingdom’s RAF, a well as the air forces of Germany and Saudi Arabia. Qatar is also set to use the weapon in the future.<\/p>\n
Like several western nations, the UK has supplied Ukraine with military support since President Putin launched his invasion on February 24.<\/p>\n
In recent days, the UK confirmed \u00a31.3billion in extra military funding towards Ukraine’s defensive operations, on top of the existing \u00a31.5 billion of support already given – which included humanitarian and military aid.<\/p>\n
Britain has supplied Ukraine with armoured vehicles, anti-tanks missiles, air defence systems and munitions – along with helmets, body armour and night vision goggles.<\/p>\n
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<\/div>\n<\/div>\nPictured: Large explosions are seen in a field during test launches of the Brimstone missile<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Ukrainian armed forces have utilised hand-held anti-tank missile launchers, as well as other modern equipment such as drones, to great effect, punching well above their weight against a Russian army that is the fifth largest in the world.<\/p>\n
Despite many commentators expecting Ukraine’s forces to be overrun in the early days of the invasion, Kyiv’s soldiers have been able to destroy thousands of Russian military vehicles. Moscow has lost an estimated 27,000 soldiers.<\/p>\n
Modern equipment has allowed Ukraine’s soldiers to be more manoeuvrable than their Russian foes, who have been caught out using Soviet-era tactics. Several videos have shown scores of Russian vehicles being destroyed in ambushes.<\/p>\n
In one examples last week,\u00a0Russia\u00a0suffered a double battlefield humiliation when Ukraine successfully thwarted its attempt to cross a river in Donbas, destroying dozens of vehicles and inflicting heavy casualties.<\/p>\n
In an attempt to then rescue men and vehicles that were then stranded on the wrong side of the Donets River, near Biolhorivka – after the first attempt on May 8 – Russian forces launched a second effort to cross the river. The results were much the same.<\/p>\n
It appears Russian commanders were attempting to surround Lysychansk – and its sister city of Severodonetsk – with the crossing, but saw their sneak-attack turn into a massacre when Ukraine correctly guessed their plans.<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2022\/05\/15\/13\/57833947-0-image-a-12_1652618738816.jpg\")
<\/p>\nThe weapon has been adapted to be fired from small vehicles on the Ukrainian battlefield<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
The attempt ended with Russian pontoon bridges being sunk by an artillery barrage that destroyed dozens of vehicles and may have killed more than 1,000 troops.<\/p>\n
Satellite images laid bare the scale of the failure with the remains of two pontoon bridges drifting in the Donets River at Bilohorivka, west of the city of Lysychansk, surrounded by the ruins of tanks and armoured vehicles.<\/p>\n
Russian forces then made another failed attempt to cross the river – losing more men to another barrage in the process, with survivors forced to swim to safety.<\/p>\n
It is just the latest humiliation for Putin’s army – once ranked second in the world – after commanders failed to capture the capital Kyiv, were beaten back from Mykolaiv by a rag-tag band of territorial defence troops and civilians, and got their Black Sea flagship Moskva sunk by Ukrainian missiles.<\/p>\n
Commanders are now trying to seize control of the Donbas region – cynically claiming that was their true objective all along – but have so-far failed to make any significant breakthrough in almost a month of fighting, with Kyiv claiming Russia has suffered ‘colossal’ losses.<\/p>\n
In fact, in many regions, Ukraine’s forces are now on the offensive.<\/p>\n
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