Heroic Ukrainian soldier ‘blows himself up to destroy the bridge’ and stops Russian forces attacking Kyiv

A Ukrainian HERO soldier blew himself up to destroy a bridge and stop Russian forces rushing towards Kyiv.

The Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed that Vitaly Skakun Volodymyrovych died trying to prop up a column of Russian tanks at the Henichesk Bridge, Kherson region.

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The brave soldier decided to blow up the bridge – which connects Russian-occupied Crimea with mainland Ukraine – after volunteering for the dangerous mission of mining it with explosives, an Armed Forces official said. said.

They explained: “The bridge was tapped, but he didn’t manage to get out of it.

“According to the brothers in hand, Vitaly contacted [with them] and said he was going to blow up the bridge. Just then an explosion rang out.”

Skakun, a military engineer, is being praised by his teammates for “significantly slowing the enemy’s advance”.

It also allows Ukrainian military units to regroup and rearrange their defenses.

“Russian occupiers, know that the ground will burn under your feet!” military official said.

Ukrainian commanders are currently working on awarding the title after Skakun for his “heroic act”.

It comes as Ukraine claims it has killed or captured 800 Russian troops, destroyed 30 tanks and shot down seven fighter jets on Friday.

The Kyiv defense ministry gave an optimistic assessment of the first day’s fighting amid concerns that capital can be reduced within 96 hours.

Russian forces yesterday attacked on all fronts as they tried to attack Ukraine.

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However, Ukrainian forces fought fiercely – repelling several attacks as they pushed back Putin’s forces.

The photos show destroyed Russian vehicles lying on the side of the road, dead Russian soldiers and captured Russian soldiers.

And while there are question marks over the accuracy of Kyiv’s figures, British intelligence agrees that Russia suffered heavy losses and made no meaningful gains on the first day.

It comes as Defense Secretary Ben Wallace said the Kremlin “didn’t fulfill any of its major goals” after faced much stiffer resistance than expected.

He said their force was “behind schedule” and had lost more than 450 men as well as tanks, armor, fighters and helicopters.

Former army captain said Putin was given a “nosebleed” by Ukraine, which showed that his army was “invincible at all”.

He also mocked the country’s Spetsnaz special forces, pointing out that they failed to reach an important airport outside the capital city Kyiv.

It comes as:

Mr. Wallace said morale of the Russian army was low and a large number of troops surrendered or deserted within hours of the offensive began.

There were reports that Kremlin soldiers on the front lines did not realize they were going to fight the Ukrainians and were hesitant to engage.

The defense secretary said the UK’s assessment was that Putin “intended to invade the whole of” the country and replace the government.

He said: “If you look at the huge odds the Russians put in before they started this, you’d think they did it all in 24 hours.

“No one would have thought they wouldn’t be able to accomplish one of their goals, which is where we are right now.

“That is in contrast to Russia’s grand statements and President Putin’s vision that somehow the Ukrainians will be liberated and flocked to his cause.

“He got it completely wrong. The Ukrainians are fighting and they are fighting bravely. President Putin is not getting it the way he wants.”

The defense minister also accused the Russians of indiscriminate shelling of residential areas during the night as part of an escalation of violence.

He predicted Ukraine’s defenses would be even more fierce in urban battles, with the army thinking “let them in the cities and then hit them”.

This comes like a Russian jet is believed to have been shot down in a fireball in Kyiv with Kremlin forces preparing to lay siege to the city of 2.9 million people.

Explosions were heard overnight as Moscow’s forces are now only 20 miles away from the capital after yesterday’s full-scale invasion.

The Ukrainians have been warned that they are facing “the hardest day” with an expected all-out Russian attack from the air, land and sea.

About 10,000 guns were given to residents and a general mobilization was ordered to defend Kyiv.

At least 137 Ukrainians were killed across the country at the hands of Putin’s forces after the attack began at 3:30 a.m. Thursday.

US intelligence now fears Putin could topple Kyiv in just 96 hours as Russian forces moved within 20 miles of seizing nearby Chernobyl.

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