CHILLING images show a smouldering Russian convoy of tanks blitzed to ashes by the heroic Ukrainian resistance on the outskirts of Kyiv.

The biggest war in Europe since World War 2 has now been raging for seven days - but Vladimir Putin's advance towards the capital Kyiv appears to have stalled as brave Ukrainians fight back.

Eerie pictures from the town of Bucha - just 20 miles from the capital - revealed the mangled wreckage of Russian tanks and military equipment after one of the most brutal firefights of the war so far.

Footage showed the column of Russian tanks rolling into the town, near the Gostomel airbase, on Sunday afternoon before the convoy was shot down and destroyed.

Military experts said the Russians were likely wiped out by Ukrainian artillery and drone strikes.

Heroic locals also banded together to help fight the invaders - with some reportedly chucking Molotov cocktails at enemy vehicles.

The intense fighting left a trail of devastating destruction as chilling pictures showed a heap of smouldering military vehicles and scorched debris strewn across the streets.

Eanatolii Fedoruk, the mayor of Bucha, celebrated the heroic defeat even as he assessed the damage to the town.

He reportedly said: "The armed forces of Ukraine stopped the enemy’s column…

"These are the results of their invasion and the work of our armed forces.

"Unfortunately, the private sector [houses] also received damage, but we will rebuild. Wishing health to our armed forces who have worked very well. Everything will be Ukraine."

Zelenksy said 6,000 Russian troops have now been killed in the first six days of fighting.

US defence officials said morale is flagging in some Russian units - and some of Putin's forces have surrendered in Ukraine without a fight.

Although the world's eyes remain on the massed 40-mile long Russian convoy outside Kyiv, the same official was quoted as saying Putin's onslaught on the capital has stalled.

Military expert Dr Jack Watling said there is evidence of low morale among the Russian troops - citing lost and confused units, and their surprise at coming under fire from Ukrainians.

He told the BBC: "We have heard reports of them damaging their own equipment because they don't want to go in to fight."

And residents have armed themselves with guns and Molotov cocktails as they prepared for what could be a prolonged siege.

Makeshift barricades of tyres, trucks and wheelie bins have been erected ahead of the defence of Kyiv.

Signs appeared in the capital which read: "Russian soldier, go to f***".

Others said "Putin is lost" and "the entire world is with Ukraine".

But Ukraine can expect further bloodshed today after Putin warned residents of the capital to leave ahead of "high precision strikes".

Russian forces are believed to be aiming to seize the capital to topple the government led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

Fears are spreading that Russia will turn to more indiscriminate bombing in a bid to weaken the Ukrainian resolve.

And in a thinly veiled threat to Nato today, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov a third world war "would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive".

Lavrov said Russia would face a "real danger" if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons.

Peace talks are expected to continue today - but there are major doubts if they will make progress.

At least 136 people, including 13 children, now have been killed in Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24, the UN has said.

In Kyiv, at least five people have already been killed after Russian missiles rained down on the city, hitting a Holocaust memorial and the biggest TV mast in the Ukrainian capital.

Footage showed a fireball erupting next to the TV transmitter tower - temporarily knocking out all broadcasts.

The interior ministry said equipment had been damaged and "channels won't work for a while", but services resumed soon after.

As they geared up to try once more to take the city, the Russian issued a chilling warning for Ukrainians to flee parts of Kyiv.

The attack on the Babyn Yar memorial, the site of one of the Nazis' deadliest individual war crimes, sparked outrage across Ukraine.

Between September 29 and 30, 1941, the Nazis and their collaborators murdered more than 33,000 Jews, dumping their bodies in a ravine.

It was the largest single massacre in the history of the Holocaust up to that point.

Decrying Russia's apparent indiscriminate targeting of a non-military site in Kyiv, Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky tweeted: "To the world: what is the point of saying 'never again' for 80 years, if the world stays silent when a bomb drops on the same site of Babyn Yar?

"At least 5 killed. History repeating..."

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba described the strike as "evil and barbaric".

Britain's ambassador to Ukraine, Melinda Simmons, tweeted: "In case anyone bought Putin's 'denazification' objective, here's the stark staring proof of its sickening hollowness."
On Wednesday, harrowing footage captured the moment Putin's air force bombed a block of flats near Kyiv.

The Ukraine Air Force said two Ukrainian MIG-29 fighters took out two Russian jets in a battle in the skies in the Kyiv region. One Ukrainian troop was killed.

And some 90 miles of west of the city, four people including a child were killed when homes were hit by a Russian missile in Zhytomyr.

Anton Gerashchenko said residential buildings were hit near the base of the 95th Airborne Brigade in Zhytomyr.

[i]"So far, four people have died. Including a child," said Gerashchenko, who is an adviser to the interior minister of Ukraine.

Footage from the scene showed firefighters picking through the smouldering wreckage of what remained of the homes.

Flames continued to pour from buildings in the aftermath of the missile strike on the city 75 miles west of the capital Kyiv.

Images shared on social media also claim to show damage to a nearby maternity hospital.

Later, the Interior Ministry said the missiles fired at the base were launched from Belarus.

It comes as other harrowing images show the aftermath of a Russian attack on the town of Borodyanka, about 35 miles northwest of Kyiv.

Video shows major damage to two large apartment blocks, which surround a courtyard where the Pinocchio Kindergarten is located.

Buildings are on fire or smouldering after the attack but it's unknown if anyone was killed.

It is feared Russia may soon begin to use even more brutal tactics.

And some of these are already being felt in Kharkiv which has come under missile attack by Russian bombers.
And in a thinly veiled threat to Nato today, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov a third world war "would involve nuclear weapons and be destructive".

Lavrov said Russia would face a "real danger" if Kyiv acquired nuclear weapons.

Peace talks are expected to continue today - but there are major doubts if they will make progress.

Russia unleashed a devastating assault on Ukraine's second largest city after Putin reportedly ordered his forces to seize it "at any cost".

The eastern city - which is just 25 miles from the Russian border - has already seen some of the bloodiest fighting of war as Moscow renewed its offensive last night with a barrage of strikes.

Putin's generals are understood to have been ordered to take Kharkhiv at all costs.

Footage from this morning showed a massive explosion ripping through the city centre - and buildings including the city's police station on fire.

At least 21 people were killed and 112 wounded in shelling over the last 24 hours, regional governor Oleg Synegubov said.

The siege of Kharkiv has drawn comparisons to the massacres of civilians in Sarajevo in the 1990s and condemnation for what President Volodymyr Zelensky called a "war crime".

Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian Interior Minister, said: "Practically there are no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit."

Russia has yet to win a major victory - and are believed to be staking their efforts on Kharkiv.

But 340 miles south, Putin's forces finally managed to capture a city - seizing the small port of Kherson.