Footage from the northeastern town of Bakhmach captures shouting men throwing themselves into the pathways of the vehicles with their arms in the air.
At one point a man riding on the front of a tank jumps down in front of it and brings it to a standstill, trying to push it back with his bare hands.
Gasps are heard from the people filming the incident as the man confronts the Russian troops and the vehicles appear to drive around him.
He then kneels in front of it before leaping out of the way in the nick of time as the tank accelerates away leaving a trail of smoke behind it.
Video below:
The man does not appear to be harmed during the 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.
In another act of defiance, an elderly man was captured on camera berating armed Russian invaders in Melitopol, asking “what the f— are you doing here?”
Russian soldiers claimed that they were met by pensioners waving red flags as they entered the city – but the video tells an entirely different story.
“Who invited you here? What are you doing here? Bombing us? Did you go crazy?” the man can be heard saying.
“I’m f—— Russian, too, but I live in this country. We have our own country. Don’t you have problems in your country?”
Grandpa is reprimanding the Russian soldiers in Melitopol like they are children.
“I’m also Russian. Don’t you have any problems in the state?” pic.twitter.com/fan9J9Me80
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) February 26, 2022
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.
