THIS is the shocking moment a Russian missile exploded into a fireball after landing just behind a reporter on TV.
French journalist Paul Gasnier was broadcasting from the city of Kramatorsk, Donetsk, when the terrifying blast happened.
The horrifying clip shows a missile striking just metres from Gasnier and a cameraman on Monday night.
Gasnier can be seen frantically ducking for cover as the projectile explodes - turning the black background orange as it fills with flames.
It is understood Gasnier, who was reporting for the 20:15 Express programme on the TMC Network, was not injured in the blast.
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A German reporter with Bild newspaper suffered a minor injury from shrapnel in the same bombardment, however.
Russian missiles hammered Ukraine-controlled areas in Donetsk on Monday, with officials saying the attack ruined an ice hockey arena.
The rink in Druzhkivka has been described as the largest hockey and figure skating school in Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a further Russian missile strike overnight on the city of Druzhkivka in the Donetsk region wounded two people, the deputy head of Ukraines presidential office, Kyrylo Tymoshenko, said.
It comes after Russia suffered its deadliest day of the war so far after Ukraine launched a massive strike during Putin's New Year's speech.
Hundreds of mobilised troops reportedly died in the Ukrainian strike on a barracks in the Donbas region just before the clock struck midnight.
The deadly strike was 115 miles from where Putin "pre-recorded" his New Year’s message with dozens of troops in Russia’s Rostov region.
During his speech, he claimed the West was "cynically using Ukraine and its people to weaken and divide Russia".
Russia attempted to hide the toll of soldiers lost in the strike - but Ukraine's military puts the number of Russian deaths at 400, with 300 others wounded.
Moscow did confirm a "significant loss of life", signalling a grievous blow to the already exhausted Russian troops.
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According to reports on the Telegram channel of General SVR, Putin has lost more than 1,000 FSB secret service officers in the war in Ukraine - bringing Russia's death toll to 145,000 in ten months.
Thought to be a Kremlin insider, the report suggests the losses in Putin’s regular army alone amount to 104,186, with another 33,902 in private military companies - like Wagner Group - which are fighting for the Kremlin in the war.
Losses in the Russian National Guard amount to 5,941, it is claimed.
