A Ukrainian rocket attack left a trail of dead Russian soldiers and burnt-out military vehicles in “one of the bloodiest strikes of the war”.
Night-time footage emerged early on Friday showing what appeared to be a line of military trucks ablaze on a road in the Kursk region of Russia.
A separate video, shared on Russian social media, appeared to have been taken by someone driving past the aftermath of the apparent strike.
The bodies of dead Russian soldiers could be seen in the backs of some of the 14 trucks that were in the convoy. Other vehicles appeared to be completely burnt out after the strike, which Russian military bloggers said was carried out with US-donated Himars rocket launchers.
The convoy appeared to be transporting reinforcements to tackle Kyiv’s surprise raid on the Kursk region.
The Telegraph geolocated the two video clips to the E38 highway in the Russian town of Oktyabr’skoe, more than 20 miles from the border with Ukraine.
The convoy was likely travelling to reinforce the Russian presence in the settlement of Korenevo about 12 miles away, the closest point Russian sources have reported combat.
“Many dead, some of the vehicles burned to the ground. It looks like the entire column was carrying infantry,” a Russian Telegram channel wrote of the strike.
“They were armed, most likely a platoon per vehicle. 3-4 companies – an entire battalion was destroyed.
“Judging by the appearance of the column, about half were killed. This is one of the bloodiest and most massive strikes (most likely Himars) in the entire war.”
The Ukrainian Unian news agency reported that Moscow could have lost “200 to 490 people in what could become one of the largest one-time losses since the beginning of the full-scale war”.
Russia’s FSB security service was reported to have arrested a 48-year-old from Oktyabr’skoe for sharing footage of the aftermath of the strike, according to the Russian Two Majors Telegram channel.
Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region on Tuesday morning, with the battle entering its fourth day.
Kyiv has since brought in up to 2,000 troops, accompanied by tanks and US-made armoured vehicles, as it seeks to cement its gains in the Russian border region.
The town of Sudzha, home to one of the final transit stations pumping Russian gas into Europe, has been under Ukrainian control for days.
Moscow’s emergency ministry on Friday declared a federal state of emergency in the Kursk region.
Several videos shared on social media on Friday morning appeared to show Russian reinforcements being transported on armoured vehicles arriving in the Kursk region.
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