A column of Russian military vehicles and personnel was destroyed in Russia's Kursk Oblast, the location of an ongoing Ukrainian incursion, Suspilne and the independent Russian media outlet Agentstvo said on Aug. 9.
The attack was corroborated by Rybar, one of the most popular pro-Kremlin Russian Telegram channels, which claimed that a local resident who filmed the video and then handed it over to the Ukrainian media had been arrested.
Videos were circulated on social media, later verified by Suspilne and Agentstvo, that showed a series of destroyed and damaged Russian military vehicles, as well as the dead bodies of Russian servicemembers. In total, more than 14 pieces of destroyed or damaged military equipment were visible in the video.
According to Agentstvo, the destroyed column was geolocated to be in the village of Oktyabrskoe, situated around 10 kilometers (6 miles) from the larger town of Rylsk and 118 kilometers (73 miles) from the regional capital of Kursk.
It is also some 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the town of Korenevo, the closest place where fighting is reportedly occurring.
Russian Telegram channels claimed that the column had been struck by a HIMARS missile, but the claims could not be independently verified.
Some of the vehicles in the video are completely burnt out and destroyed, while others appear to be only partially damaged.
The number of Russian casualties in the attack is unknown, and Moscow has not publicly commented on it yet.
Following a surprise incursion by Ukrainian forces across the border days earlier, fighting has continued in the oblast, with Ukraine reportedly making gains deeper into Russian territory. Russia's Defense Ministry acknowledged on Aug. 9 that its forces were fighting the Ukrainian army on the outskirts of the town of Sudzha.
Russian pro-war Telegram channels also claim that Ukrainian forces are some 15 kilometers (9 miles) from the town of Lgov, where a crucial highway is located.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims.
Earlier in the day, Russia's Emergency Situations Ministry said that the situation in the Kursk region has been declared a "federal emergency."
The state-owned train operator Moscow Railway said on Aug. 8 that the railway stations in Sudzha, Korenevo, and Psel are "temporarily closed to passengers."
Kyiv has so far maintained a policy of silence, but President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Aug. 8 that "Russia brought war to our land, and it should feel what it has done." He did not directly mention the incursion into the Kursk region.
Francis Farrell
(Updated: )
