This footage shows the huge craters left behind as Ukrainian bomb squad experts carry out controlled explosions to remove powerful bombs left behind by retreating Russian forces.
Zenger News obtained the footage from the State Emergency Service (SES) of Ukraine yesterday (Sunday, May 8).
The SES of Ukraine also claimed the clear-up work included undetonated mines, saying: “The village of Bervytsia and the village of Peremoha in Brovary district in Kyiv Oblast. The occupiers left many mines and shells here after their infamous stay.
“Pyrotechnicians from different regions of our country worked every day to clear these areas of enemy ammunition. Among other things, the FAB-500 bomb was seized. Yesterday, the deadly finds were destroyed by a controlled blast.”
The Soviet-designed FAB-500 is a 500-kilogram (1,102-lb) general-purpose air-dropped bomb with a high-explosive warhead, primarily used by the Russian Air Force.
In the footage, the FAB-500 that was destroyed appears to have been dropped but not to have detonated, as it appears battered.
The bomb is unguided, features a single nose fuse, and is compatible with most models of Soviet aircraft.
Russian forces withdrew from around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv and surrounding regions to Belarus and western Russia in early April.
They reportedly did so in order to refocus efforts on taking control of the east and south of Ukraine.
The SES is tasked with carrying out state policy in spheres including civil defense and rescue.
Russian troops invaded Ukraine on 24th February in what the Kremlin is now calling a “special military operation” to “protect Donbass”. Today marks the 75th day of the campaign.
From 24th February to 9th May, the total combat losses of Russian troops stand at around 25,650 personnel, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian military also claims that Russia has lost 1,145 tanks, 2,764 armored fighting vehicles, 513 artillery systems, 185 multiple launch rocket systems, 87 anti-aircraft systems, 199 warplanes, 158 helicopters, 1,970 motor vehicles and fuel tankers, 12 vessels, 377 tactical unmanned aerial vehicles, 41 units of special equipment and 94 cruise missiles.
The update comes as Vladimir Putin addresses a huge military parade in Red Square in Moscow on Victory Day.
The annual event commemorates the defeat of Nazi Germany at the hands of the Soviet Union in World War II.
The Russian President used his speech to claim Russian troops in eastern Ukraine were “defending the motherland”.
He also said the “special military operation” in Ukraine was necessary and was provoked by the West.
However, he did not make any major announcement concerning the invasion, as many had speculated.
Some 65,000 personnel, 2,400 items of military hardware and over 400 aircraft are taking part in today’s parades, which are taking place across 28 Russian cities.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said yesterday in his own Victory Day speech that Russia was repeating Nazi atrocities.
He also denounced heavy shelling carried out by Russia in eastern Ukraine and said a strike on a school building turned shelter in Luhansk Oblast killed 60.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has called on Putin to end the invasion of Ukraine immediately.
