Incredible video footage has emerged of a single Ukrainian tank annihilating numerous Russian armoured vehicles less than 50 kilometres from Kyiv.

The video, captured by a drone and shared on Telegram by a Ukrainian volunteer force, purports to show a single well-positioned Ukrainian T-64 tank ambushing a column of Russian BTR-82A armoured vehicles on a road near Nova Basan, west of the city.

The lion-hearted tank operator was able to fire multiple rounds at the invaders’ convoy thanks to clever placement, threading the gap between other structures from a disguised spot behind a home.

In the attack, one BTR was rapidly set ablaze, causing the other armoured vehicles to fire back, ostensibly targeting at other targets off-camera as yellow sparks of fire were seen flashing across the fields around the road.

However, the T-64 remained unseen and proceeded to pound the convoy with rounds, outwitting the Russian forces until further artillery reinforcements arrived.

The second part of the film transitions to subsequent footage of Ukrainian artillery attacks raining down on the convoy as it tries to leave, before focusing in on the wreckage of a Russian warplane.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian military have utilised one of Moscow’s captured thermobaric weapons on Russian troops.

They launched the dreaded ‘blazing sun’ TOS-1A missile launcher near Izyum in eastern Ukraine. The ‘vacuum bombs’ suck in oxygen from the target location, resulting in an explosion that can kill interior organs. They are unlawful to employ against civilians but legal against military objectives.

Despite the Ukrainian army’s valour, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg cautioned today that the battle in Ukraine might endure “months, if not years,” since there is no evidence that Vladimir Putin has relinquished “his aim to dominate the entire nation.”

Ukrainian officials warned citizens in the country’s east to escape “immediately” or “risk death” as Russian soldiers regrouped ahead of what is likely to be a new onslaught.

As the battle reached its 41st day, Stoltenberg, addressing ahead of a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, said the international community should be “realistic” about Moscow’s goals and “realise that this may persist for a long time.”

‘We also need to be prepared for the long run, both in terms of assisting Ukraine, maintaining sanctions, and fortifying our defences,’ he continued.

The date of the ambush was not specified, but it is believed to have occurred last week, given that the majority of Russian soldiers withdrew from towns and villages near Kyiv late last week and over the weekend.

The ambush occurred along the HO7 highway, which goes through Nova Basan and connects Kyiv with the western cities of Sumy and Kharkiv.

Meanwhile, photographs published on April 1 showed Ukrainian forces assessing a number of burnt-out Russian tanks and BTRs in Nova Basan, which might have been the remains of the successful ambush.

Despite a significant technological gap, the Ukrainian tank was able to function exceptionally well against the Russian armour.

The T-64 is a Soviet-era equipment that was originally deployed in the 1960s, and Ukraine acquired hundreds of them when the Soviet Union fell apart.

Armoured vehicle technology has advanced significantly since the movie’s destruction – the Russian BTRs destroyed in the clip just entered service a decade ago – but Ukraine continues to rely largely on the ageing tanks as the backbone of its military force.

Images published in January, less than a month before the Russian invasion, showed dozens of T-64 tanks abandoned in the snow, ready to be rebuilt with updated armour and armaments at a tank repair shop in Kharkiv.