THIS is the moment bungling Russian troops allegedly opened fire and stormed their own positions believing they were Ukrainians.
Dramatic footage shows a Russian assault unit stepping out of a tank before reportedly blowing up their own trench in Novomykhailivka.
The clip, geolocated by the popular war blogging website Deep State Map, clearly outlines the Russian-Ukraine border.
It shows Vladimir Putin's troops patrolling in a war tank inside the Russian territory before a bunch of soldiers come out in a mist of chaos.
The troops then started firing at what they believed was a trench filled with Ukrainian soldiers.
They even stormed the place and blitzed it with rocket launchers - unaware of the fact they were allegedly assaulting their own men.
Within moments, the Russian assault obliterates the trench with plums of black smoke rising from the position.
The Sun was unable to verify the footage.
This is not the first time Russian troops launched an attack on their men by accident.
Panicking Russian soldiers were previously seen blowing up their own men in the village of Andriivka amid a heavy Ukrainian counteroffensive last year.
One of Putin's soldiers died in the explosion, and the other two were taken prisoner by Ukrainian troops.
The humiliating moment for Putin comes after US President Joe Biden gave Volodymyr Zelensky the go-ahead to hit inside Russian territories using American weapons.
Biden's secretive decision means US weapons can now be used by Ukraine for "counter-fire purposes" on their aggressors.
The major shake-up comes as Russia continues to attack Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv as they look to seize more Ukrainian territory.
Ukraine has been constantly calling for additional support from the West with Biden finally responding with a partial change to US policy in a move that is all but certain to anger an already paranoid Vladimir Putin.
Despite the predicted new ruling, officials have maintained their stance that US weapons shouldn't be offensively used against Russia.
This means Ukraine isn't allowed to attack Russian civilian infrastructure with any US-supplied weapons.
They are also still banned from using long-range weapons such as the army tactical missile system (ATACMS).
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said recently: "As the conditions have changed, as the battlefield has changed, as what Russia does has changed in terms of how it's pursuing its aggression and escalation, we've adapted and adjusted too.
"I'm confident we'll continue to do that."
Mad Vlad reacted with fury after the US partially lifted a ban on the use of its arms supplies to strike targets beyond enemy lines.
He launched a deadly midnight aerial assault on the besieged city of Kharkiv just moments after President Joe Biden's dramatic u-turn.
At least five people were killed and scores more wounded after an S-300 warhead struck at apartment block in the suburbs.
A second was fired just four minutes later in a "double tap" that injured emergency service heroes who rushed to the scene to help.
Up to 10 warheads in total struck residential neighbourhoods across the city as his Kremlin henchmen warned of nuclear armageddon.
A tyrant's threat
By The Sun's Defence Editor Jerome Starkey
Vladimir Putin has threatened an all-out war if Ukraine uses Western weapons to hit Russia.
The tyrant singled out Britain — warning that “countries with small territory and dense populations” should be careful.
Russia uses Iranian, North Korean and Chinese weapons to attack Ukraine.
But the President said Kyiv responding with rockets from allies risked a “global conflict”.
Putin said: “Constant escalation can lead to serious consequences.
“Nato members, particularly in Europe, should beware of what they are playing with.”
When asked if Ukraine had been banned from using our weapons on Russia,
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron said: “We don’t discuss any caveats on those.
“But Ukraine absolutely has the right to strike back at Russia.”
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for permission from allies to use their weapons on Russian soil.
Kremlin troops assaulting Kharkiv appear to be immune from long-range rocket strikes by US Himars launchers, with a range of 70 miles.
Ukraine's second-largest city Kharkiv is now seeing intense fighting as Putin's troops look to push forward into the northeast.
Kharkiv's mayor Ihor Terekhov has begged the West to step in and accused Vlad of terrorising its 1.3 million residents and plunging the city into darkness.
Russian attacks on Kharkiv - liberated after six months of Moscow's occupation in September 2022 - have been scaling up dramatically in previous weeks, killing dozens and leaving thousands without electricity.
Terekhov said that unless the West steps up and delivers crucial air defence systems - Kharkiv could suffer the same fate as the Syrian city of Aleppo, which heavy Russian bombing helped to decimate a decade ago.
Last Saturday, at least 18 people were killed after a Russian missile strike hit a retail park in the region sparking a horror inferno.
Dramatic footage shows massive plumes of black smoke rising into the Kharkiv sky after the Epicentre construction hypermarket became engulfed by flames.
Witnesses told our Sun reporter on the scene there were 200 people inside the 10,000sqft construction hypermarket.
Meanwhile, Ukraine claimed Putin's Russia reached a grim milestone after losing more than 500,000 soldiers in their failing war.
Kyiv said Moscow's crumbling army has also lost some 22,000 tanks armoured vehicles and nearly 700 aircraft since the invasion.
Putin's invasion in Kharkiv
By Paul Sims
UKRAINE'S second-largest city of Kharkiv was blitzed from the air on May 10 as advancing enemy troops were pegged back.
They fired missiles, drones and glider bombs towards the border towns of Vovchansk, Lyptsi and beyond.
The relentless daily bombardment from the skies was stepped up as Ukraine's warriors repelled a series of ground offensives.
In a town 15 miles from the frontline, the residents of a quiet residential street were among the latest casualties of Russia's onslaught.
We found Vasyl Lutsenko, 67, at the base of a tree overlooking the charred remains of the home he and his wife Olena have shared for the last 24 years.
Their property was hit by an Iranian-made Shahed-136 kamikaze drone shortly after 2am and burned to the ground.
It hit their Summer kitchen before the flames spread instantly to the main house and the neighbours next door.
The timber frames were still smouldering as we arrived yesterday amid piles of brickwork and masonry, twisted metal and their charred possessions.
The roof is no more and all that remains of the lives they created here is a wasteland of treasured memories.
Bearded Vasyl manages a smile as he mentions Boris Johnson and says he and Olena, 58, are lucky to be alive. He is already talking about rebuilding.
But it is too much for Olena who suddenly breaks down and shakes her head as a tear rolls down her cheek.
The Lutsenko home is the latest to be struck by the indiscriminate attacks that have increased daily over the last few weeks.
Extraordinary video footage taken by firefighters hours earlier showed their two-bedroom home engulfed by flames.
Vasyl and Olena escaped via their bedroom window after it was blown in by the power of the blast.
Olena was in her slippers but is now wearing a pair of trainers donated by a neighbour.
Vasyl says: "The world needs to understand that we cannot stop Vladimir Putin on our own.
"The whole world needs to end Putin. He won't stop. You will have the war in London and around your home if he is not stopped.
"Today, we have great news. We are alive and I suspect this dumbf*** Putin will be dead soon.
"He's a d***head."
Next door, Oleksii Yakhno, 71, is surveying the devastating damage to the home he and wife Olga, 68, have lived in for the last 51 years.
Oleksii was asleep in a back bedroom and his wife was on a sofa bed in the kitchen when the drone struck.
Olga cried out to her husband to save the family car, a purple 13 series Lada, as the ceilings caved in.
He did as he was told and ran out in his pants, diving into the front seat as the flames tore through the garage.
Tearful Oleksii tells me: "My wife saw the neighbour's summer kitchen hit by the drone.
"It caught fire immediately and my wife told me to go and save our car.
"I went off - even in my underwear - ran into the garage and started the engine.
"Over the last few years I've been saving money so that my daughter's can pay for my funeral when I'm dead, but it's all gone."
His eyes fill with tears as he says: "I don't have any feelings - just that I have lost the roof over my head.
"The home and everything we owned is gone - I just don't know what to do.
"Maybe I would be better off dead. It's very, very bad. What can I do now? I have lived my entire life here."
Local Mayor Ihor Terekhov told The Sun: "People are left with nothing right now. We will definitely help them and do our best to rebuild their lives.
"The Russian aggressor is carrying out crimes every day against the Ukrainian nation."