Video Shows Russian Tanks Destroyed Under Ukraine Fire

A video appearing to show Ukrainian soldiers destroying several Russian tanks with Javelin missiles has gone viral on social media.

Throughout the conflict, Ukraine has claimed to have destroyed thousands of Russian tanks and regularly posts images and videos saying more military equipment has been demolished.

By Kyiv's count, as of last week, Russia's total tank losses were estimated to be at 3,595. Russia has never confirmed Ukraine's estimates, however, and Kyiv's count comes in higher than many Western estimates.

The latest video, showing Russian tanks being destroyed, was posted by Ukraine's 36th Marine Brigade on Facebook and YouTube on Thursday.

The clip has also begun to circulate on Twitter and has so far been viewed more than 130,000 times.

According to the Ukrainian armed forces unit, the attacks on the tanks took place in the Donetsk region. The YouTube video was entitled: "How marine javelin throwers burn Russian armored vehicles in Donetsk region is a real art," according to Google translate.

The full clip shows multiple Russian tanks moving in the area before they come under fire.

The footage also cuts to Ukrainian soldiers as they are firing the Javelin missiles. The video clips then show multiple Russian tanks being struck and set on fire.

One moment during the video shows a Russian tank smoking as it attempts to escape the area, before its occupants jump out and flee on foot.

Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the ongoing conflict and said the country intended to produce and upgrade more than 1,600 tanks in the next three years.

He told state media that Russia will have "three times" the number of tanks at its disposal compared to Ukraine.

The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War criticized Putin's comments, however, and said the targets ignored Russia's "limited industrial capacity" to quickly produce advanced tanks as well as its ongoing losses on the battlefield.

The think tank said it would take Russia six years for its manufacturing industry to hit that figure at its current production rate, and therefore Moscow would need to take old tanks from storage and refurbish others to reach the target.

Russia would need to produce 1,350 tanks in the next nine months to keep its stocks at current levels, the ISW calculated.

The British defense ministry has also criticized Russia's military goals and said its military production is a "critical weakness." Writing on Twitter on February 15, the ministry said production is "almost certainly" failing to meet the Russian defense ministry's demands.