The burned wreckage of two Russian tanks with blown off turrets and several armored personnel carriers attest the ferocity of last week¡¯s clashes in Lukyanivka village just outside Kyiv. The charred corpse of a Russian soldier lies in a field nearby.

¡°There were mortars so strong that it was scary even in the cellar,¡± local resident Valeriy Hudym said on Sunday, two days after Ukrainian soldiers seized back control of Lukyanivka in a five-hour battle with the Russians.

¡°Tanks were firing, artillery, and machine guns. Everything possible was there,¡± Hudym said. Two Ukrainian soldiers, involved in the battle to retake the village, said the fighting was intense.