A convoy carrying Russian military equipment came under fire near the village of Oktyabrskoye in the Rylsk District of Russia’s Kursk Region last night, as per reports from the Russian pro-war Telegram channels Neofitsialny Bezsonov (lit. “Unofficial Bezsonov”), Belarusian Silovik, and Voenny Osvedomitel (lit. “Military Informant”). The latter claimed that the Ukrainian military used the U.S.-supplied HIMARS rocket launcher for the attack and published video of the strike’s aftermath.
The photo presumably shows a fragment of a HIMARS-launched missile that was used to attack a Russian military convoy in the Kursk Region.
Source: Voenny Osvedomitel (Telegram)
“Just watched this morning's video from the scene. 14 tented military Ural and KAMAZ [trucks] with infantry. Many dead, some of the vehicles burned completely. Looks like the whole convoy was carrying infantry. They [had] weapons, a platoon per vehicle most likely. Three or four companies, a whole battalion wiped out. From the looks of the column, about half of them were killed. This is one of the bloodiest and most massive strikes (most likely HIMARS) for the entire war,” wrote military analyst Ian Matveev.
According to a report by the independent Russian publication Agentstvo (lit. “The Agency”), which geolocated the site of the strike using Google Maps panoramas, the convoy was destroyed 30 kilometers from the Russia-Ukraine border and 20 kilometers from the village of Korenevo, the nearest point where fighting is taking place.
Amid reports of the destruction of the convoy, Russian pro-war bloggers began to actively criticize the Russian military leadership.
“[Entire] convoys! For the convoys today we need executions! Who gave the order to move in columns in the copter observation zone and, accordingly, placing it in the HIMARS strike zone, he is not just an asshole, but should be sentenced under the laws of wartime, today — this means a firing squad. And I don't care what their rank is — [demote them to] private and and [have them executed] by firing squad! Those who themselves command a convoy while being in the convoy itself are not less of an asshole! But you can't even send them [to a “meat grinder” assault] anymore, because there is no one to send. Although, assholes often survive! And then get promotions and medals for having survived,” wrote Roman Alekhin, adviser to the Governor of Russia’s Kursk Region.
Russian security services also detained a local Kursk Region resident who recorded a video of the burning Russian convoy. According to the Russian Telegram channel Mash, the detained individual is a 48-year-old resident of the village of Oktyabrskoye.
Mash, a Telegram news channel with purported links to Russian law enforcement, reported that the individual filmed the aftermath of the AFU attack and shared the video with a representative of an unspecified Ukrainian Telegram channel. The footage had earlier also been circulated by Russian channels.
During interrogation, the man claimed that he filmed and sent the footage to the Ukrainians “on assignment,” according to Mash. In exchange, he was allegedly “promised money and future citizenship in a NATO country” if he continued to fulfill their orders. Mash added that the Russian authorities are now considering opening a criminal case against the man on charges of espionage.