Australian-built Bushmasters strike like snakes, Ukraine tells Australia

The eastern European country is sharing videos on Bushmasters as its troops tear through newly reoccupied areas in a surprise attack on Russian invaders.

Ukrainian government agencies are directly sharing them with Australian decision makers as its ambassador prepares for talks on extra Bushmasters as well as Hawkeis - the sister-vehicles named after a type of snake.

Government insiders are expected to meet with ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko at a later date to discuss sharing 20 Bushmasters and 20 Hawkeis with the Ukranians.

It is not clear exactly when those exploratory talks would take place.

The death of Queen Elizabeth II has upended multiple government timelines and is understood to have affected exact dates for discussions.

But the discussions could potentially inspire Australians to donate Hawkeis that Ukrainian troops would test in the field.

Hawkeis are a relatively new armoured vehicle still to be fully rolled out to Australia's army. They were custom built to replace its ageing fleet of Land Rovers.

Ukrainian officials are directly sharing videos of Bushmasters and soldiers with Australian leaders including defence minister Richard Marles and his predecessor, Peter Dutton.

Mr Myroshnychenko has used one of the videos to thank Mr Dutton and prime minister Anthony Albanese for their ongoing support.

"There are [three] things you can watch forever: fire burning, water flowing and the Ukr airborne troops using Australian made Bushmasters to liberate Kharkiv region," he said in a Tweet accompanying a video.

Soldiers filmed for the videos say they have used them to reach rapidly retreating frontlines.

"They are a great asset to us," one says.

IN OTHER NEWS:

Ukraine has now captured 8000 square kilometres in the Kharkiv region, half of which is yet to be fully secured, the country's president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.

He and other senior Ukrainian leaders expect Russia to keep bombing the country's power sources in retaliation, the Australian Associated Press has reported.

Australia has so far set aside 60 Bushmasters for Ukraine. Some are fitted out as ambulances and others are topped with machine guns.

The heavily armoured vehicles are designed to withstand bomb blasts and came to prominence during Australian troops' deployments to conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan.