Ukraine’s Tiananmen Square: Desperate civilian stands in front of Russian armoured vehicles

Incident echoed the iconic image of a lone protester standing in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in 1989

Gut-wrenching footage has emerged of the moment a desperate Ukrainian civilian stood in front of a Russian convoy in a scene reminiscent of Tiananmen Square.

The video, posted on social media by Ukrainian outlet HB, shows the brave man risking his life by trying to block a convoy of armoured vehicles streaking along the road towards him.

Gasps are heard from the people filming the incident as the man confronts the Russian troops and the vehicles appear to drive around him.

His brave act is believed to have taken place in the south of Ukraine, close to Crimea.

The man does not appear to be harmed during the 28-second clip of footage.

The incident echoed the iconic image of a lone protester standing in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989.

The man, who became known as “Tank man”, was seen holding two shopping bags as he faced down a line of tanks in the square.

At the time, the square had become the site of huge protests as the Chinese people called for greater political freedom from the Communist government.

The Communist rulers sent in troops to crush the protesters and at least 200 people are believed to have been killed.

Many social media users commented that the lone man seen in the footage in Ukraine is the country’s “tank man” as it continues to come under attack from Russia.

Russian troops continued to advance on Kyiv on Friday with tanks seen entering the Ukrainian capital while explosions rang out across the city.

Fears are mounting that the city could fall within a matter of hours or days, while Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Ukrainian troops to overthrow their own leaders as he seeks to topple the nation’s government.

At least 137 Ukrainians have been killed, including civilian men, women and children since the Russian president declared war in the early hours of Thursday morning.

Among the dead are 13 border guards who were killed in an attack on a tiny island in the Black Sea after they bravely refused to surrender to Russian troops.

Viral video footage shows a Ukrainian man rushing into a column of Russian military vehicles (Twitter / @TweetsNV)

Despite the offensive, Ukrainian troops and citizens are fighting back, with the government calling on its people to defend Kyiv and banning men aged 18 to 60 from leaving the country so they can be called up to serve.

Around 18,000 firearms have been handed out to volunteers and people are being urged to make Molotov cocktails to protect the capital city.

While Russia has not revealed its fatalities, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry said on Friday that it had killed more than 1,000 Russian troops since the conflict began.

“Russia has not suffered so many casualties during the fighting in any of its armed conflicts since its inception,” the ministry said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been calling on the wider international community to take more action after several nations including the US, the UK and the EU unveiled a series of sanctions on Russia in response to its act of war.

A lone protester stands in front of a line of tanks in Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in June of 1989 (1989 AP)