THIS is the terrifying moment flesh-melting thermite rain falls over a Ukrainian town amid bloody fighting across the frontline.
Russia is continuing to use brutal tactics in Ukraine's east - but yesterday Putin's forces endured their deadliest day, losing more than 1,000 men in 24 hours.
Ukraine claimed 1,090 of Vlad's soldiers were killed yesterday - 60 more than the previous record which was reportedly set on February 7.
Putin also lost eight tanks, seven armoured vehicles, four artillery guns and four air defence systems.
The war is grinding on in Ukraine's east, with much of the fighting centred around the nine-month long battle raging in Bakhmut.
Kyiv is holding the line as they fear caving into the Russians now will open the road up to the rest of Ukraine.
And they desperately buying time to mount a counter offensive to try and throw Putin's forces even further back.
Footage however showed the horrifying showers of so-called "thermite rain" falling over the town on Vuhledar.
Vuhledar is a key mining town on a hill that is around 60 miles north of Bakhmut.
It has been holding out even as the Russians throw wave-after-wave of troops and tanks at the stalwart defenders.
Russia repeatedly used the flesh-melting munitions earlier in the war - but now are falling back on their old tactics to break the deadlock.
Thermite, a mixture of metal powder and metal oxide is used in the making of incendiary bombs.
It burns at temperatures of more than 2,400C - being so hot it can burn through steel and concrete.
And if it comes into contact with human flesh, it can melt through right down to the bone.
Oleksandr Syrsky, commander of Ukraine's ground forces, has vowed to keep holding the line as they need to "buy time".
"The real heroes now are the defenders who are holding the eastern front on their shoulders, and inflicting the heaviest possible losses, sparing neither themselves nor the enemy," he said.
"It is necessary to buy time to build reserves and launch a counteroffensive, which is not far off."
Satellite images released yesterday showed the horrific devastation in Bakhmut - a city once home to 70,000 people.
Chilling before and after pictures of the area show the green landscape churned up into a shell pitted mud bath.
Tower blocks and houses which were once family homes have now been left devastated by the Russians.
Roads have been ripped up, trees torn apart, buildings left burning, and the lives of tens of thousands of people have been shattered.
The fighting however has been brutal - with an estimated 30,000 Russians dying in Bakhmut.
Soldiers are reportedly fighting street-by-street and hand-to-hand amongst the ruined hellscape.
Russians are reported to be using shovels as weapons as they find themselves running out of bullets.
Putin's mercenary warlord Yevgeny Prigozhin - chief of the Wagner Group - today raged the city is a "killing zone".
The Wagner Group - known for their drug-fuelled viciousness - are spearheading the attack for Russia.
But despite this constant fierce attack, the city has become known as "Fortress Bakhmut" for its heroic resistance.
British military intelligence however said the Russians are making progress.
The Ministry of Defence (MoD) said Wagner forces have seized most of eastern Bakhmut.
And a river flowing through the city now marks the frontline.
Ukrainian troops and supply lines remain vulnerable to continued Russian attempts to outflank the defenders from the north and south.
But Putin's assault will be difficult to sustain without more significant personnel losses.
Kyiv continues to call for Western support to help them defeat Putin, who has so far lost more than 150,000 soldiers.
Vlad foolishly believed his forces would be welcomed into Ukraine as liberators when he invaded last February.
But instead the initial attack ended in a disaster which saw his forces devastated and thrown back to Russia.
Moscow's war machine however continues grind forward as they unleashed a new barrage of missiles last week.
