Ukrainian soldiers kicked Russia's ass in a battle that left Russian tanks destroyed in the road and Russian soldiers dead ... and the person who is probably most surprised is the aggressor himself -- Vladimir Putin.
The video shows the aftermath of a massive battle on the outskirts of the capital -- in a town called Bucha ... which shows tons of Russian military equipment and vehicles torched up and utterly destroyed ... apparently at the hands of the Ukrainian army.
Ukrainian officials say as many as 100 units of enemy equipment were stopped in their tracks ... which halted a convoy that was trying to make its way toward the epicenter of the nation.
As you see in the videos ... it was more than just tanks and armored vehicles that got blown up. Surrounding buildings and homes also suffered some ruin during the fight -- but it sounds like there were more Russian casualties than Ukrainian.
While the official tally varies from source to source ... some European officials estimate as many as 50 Russian aircraft, 150 tanks and 4,300 soldiers have either perished or been successfully pushed back.
"This vehicle is still smoking ... ammunition boxes [are] on the ground ... there's unexploded grenades ... everywhere. A real scene of devastation." @mchancecnn gets a look at the aftermath of a ferocious battle on the outskirts of Kyiv. pic.twitter.com/9nVBC3OgiB
— CNN (@CNN) February 28, 2022
CNN's Matthew Chance also got compelling on-the-ground footage of the aftermath ... and it was clearly a bloody affair, as he actually panned to a dead man left behind -- whom he claimed was a Russian.
Point being ... Ukraine is holding its own, and there are some reports that Russia's actually getting clobbered out in the field. The question ... how will Putin respond? Time will tell.