Ukraine says it successfully attacked Russian vehicles in Kyiv thanks to a Telegram tip

• Ukraine forces attacked Russian vehicles thanks to a tip on Telegram, officials said Tuesday.
• The vehicles were targeted outside Kyiv, according to the Security Service of Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces successfully attacked Russian vehicles in the capital city of Kyiv thanks to a public tip made through the encrypted messaging app Telegram, Ukraine's top law-enforcement agency said on Tuesday.

The Security Service of Ukraine said in a tweet that it was able to effectively target Russian convoys near Kyiv because of messages sent to an official Telegram bot account called "STOP Russian War."

"Your messages about the movement of the enemy through the official chatbot … bring new trophies every day," the government agency tweeted.

"This time we received the coordinates of enemy vehicles marked 'V' in Kyiv region," it added.

"The result is on this photo: fiery 'greetings' to the invaders," the Security Service of Ukraine wrote alongside a photo showing several military vehicles among plumes of black smoke.

Russian President Vladimir Putin launched Russia's invasion of Ukraine in the early-morning hours of February 24, targeting several key cities with military strikes.

Ukrainian forces have since put up a strong resistance to the Russian troops amid the war that has left hundreds of Ukrainian civilians, including children, dead, according to the United Nations. Ukrainian and international officials have accused Russia of targeting civilian populations with shelling and bombardments.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces "destroy the invaders wherever we can."

But he said Russian troops "still have enough machinery to kill."

"There are still enough missiles for terror," he added.

Translations by Oleksandr Vynogradov.