Video shows Ukraine artillery strikes picking off tanks near Kyiv

• Ukraine's Ministry of Defense released a video of artillery strikes on vehicles outside of Kyiv.
• The aerial footage, dated March 8, shows at least eight strikes outside the town of Borodyanka.

A video released Thursday by the Ukrainian military showed 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, dated to Tuesday, 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 other 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 distinctive road formation and gas station that matched the aerial footage.

Lt. Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, commander in chief of Ukraine's army, described the operation as "delicate," according to the defense ministry.

It is a distinction Ukrainian forces might be keen to emphasize in the face of shelling from Russian forces that has hit residential buildings, schools, and hospitals.

That includes Borodyanka, which is about 45 miles from the center of Kyiv and has been a scene of some of the fiercest fighting around the capital.

The town of about 13,000 was bombarded in the Russian advance. On March 3, drone footage emerged of the town's devastation, showing the still-smoking remains of apartment buildings.

Local media reported that one of the places hit was a veterans' rehabilitation center, according to the Kyiv Independent.

A Pentagon assessment of Russian advances on Kyiv from Tuesday said that a major column of Russian forces in the region remained.

"Near Kyiv, we still observe that Russian forces have not moved closer to the city center," a Defense Department official said. "The closest they've been able to get is the airport."

In briefings on Tuesday and Wednesday, a Pentagon official said that about 90 to 95% of Russian combat power remains intact, despite fierce resistance from Ukraine and widespread video and photo evidence of destroyed Russian forces.