Russians have erupted in fury over viral footage of a devastating Ukrainian drone attack on a truck convoy, seen as the latest example of incompetence at the highest levels of Moscow’s bloody offensive.
Video circulating on Telegram shows the moment Ukrainian drones crashed into the convoy carrying 100 recruits in Russia’s Kursk region, leaving a truck in flames as smoke billowed into the sky.
Aerial drone footage shows how the military column attempted to disperse as Ukrainian kamikaze drones continued to attack them, chasing them one by one along the road through open fields.
Notes from a veteran, a Russian milblogger writing to an audience of more than 300,000, lamented: “Last week I wrote about the movement of military columns five miles from the border. Since then, nothing has changed except that the columns have lengthened… It is the third year of the war.’
A convoy of 15 trucks was reportedly taken by FPV drones two miles from the Ukrainian border with the Russian region of Sumy. It was unclear how many casualties occurred in the attack.
Ukrainian kamikaze drones destroy Russian military convoy in Kursk region, Russia
Military truck explodes when hit during convoy assault
Aerial drone footage shows how the military column dispersed after the first attacks, but Ukrainian drone operators pursued the dispersed vehicles.
Truck explodes after being hit by Ukrainian drone
Smoke billows from the defeated convoy just two miles from the Ukrainian border.
Roman Alekhin, a self-described social analyst and military volunteer, wrote to some 130,000 subscribers that Russia “must look for different logistical routes and split up groups… even if the distance is greater,” Newsweek reported.
The attack appears to have been carried out by Ukrainian drones.
Until now, Ukraine’s Western allies have supplied weapons to Ukraine on the condition that they are not used to fire on Russia.
But tensions have risen with new images also showing what is believed to be the first major use of Western-made weapons to destroy targets in Russia.
The Ukrainian military is believed to have attacked an S-300 or S-400 air defense system using the US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) and completely destroyed it in a devastating attack earlier this week .
Russia responded through Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov, threatening the United States with “fatal consequences” for “miscalculations.”
The Kremlin warned today that Western army instructors training Ukrainian soldiers in the country would have “immunity” from Russian attacks, the latest development in the dispute since the United States gave Ukraine permission to use some of its donated weapons in Russia.
‘All instructors who are dedicated to training the Ukrainian regime do not have any immunity. It doesn’t matter if they are French or not,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
The United States allowed Ukraine to use certain American weapons in attacks against Russia to help defend against the reopening of the Russian offensive on the northern city of Kharkiv, but disrupted in the absence of giving the green light to the use of ground-launched ATACMS missiles, which deliver devastating long-range blows.
Last month, Russia resumed its advance in the Kharkiv region and quickly captured several villages.
Ukraine has struggled to repel the attack, despite the United States offering an additional $275 million in military aid.
However, Russia’s push led the United States to admit restrictions placed on the use of its donations only against Russian targets inside Ukraine, allowing cross-border attacks for the first time.
“The hallmark of our commitment has been to adapt and adjust as necessary, to address what is really happening on the battlefield, to ensure that Ukraine has what it needs, when it needs it,” he said last Friday the Secretary of State of the United States, Antony Blinken. .
Pilots of the FPV kamikaze drone division “Sharp Kartuza” prepare drones for combat flight on May 16 in the Kharkiv region
In recent days, Russian forces have gained ground around the Kharkiv region, which Ukraine had largely recaptured.
Near the border with Russia, Ukrainian soldiers prepare drones for combat on May 16
The Foreign Minister said that Ukraine was right to launch an attack against targets inside Russia.
Days later, the Netherlands said it would allow Ukraine to use its F-16 jets to carry out strikes on Russia.
The use of the planes is also not limited to the border region near Kharkiv, as is the case with American weapons.
The developments follow comments by British Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron, who said in May that he would support Ukraine using British-supplied missiles as he saw fit.
‘We don’t discuss any warnings we put on those things. But let us be absolutely clear, Russia has launched an attack against Ukraine and Ukraine absolutely has the right to counterattack Russia,” he told reporters during a visit to kyiv.
The UK has supplied billions of pounds of ammunition, including long-range Storm Shadow missiles, to Volodymyr Zelensky’s forces since Putin’s invasion in 2022.