Aerial footage shot by a drone and posted to a social media website on Friday (January 16) shows terminal buildings and other structures at Donetsk International Airport in a state of complete destruction after months of conflict there.

Army.SOS, a Ukrainian group that supports the army by buying ammunition, food and supplies for soldiers, said the video was shot on January 15, but neither the video's authenticity, nor the date it was shot could be independently verified by Reuters.

Government troops and pro-Russian separatist fighters have been locked in battle at the airport for months.

Government troops have a tenuous grip on the complex, which includes a multi-storey control tower and extensive outbuildings, but is now only a battered shell after nine months of conflict.

Its cratered runways mean it has not functioned for months as an airport. But it has symbolic value for both sides and has become the main flashpoint in the fighting even as prospects for a new round of peace talks dimmed.

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