DRAMATIC videos have caught Ukrainian jets and troops storming into Russia as Vladimir Putin fears a key nuclear plant could be seized in the new assault.
Humvees, armoured personal carriers, and hundreds of soldiers smashed their way across the border into the Kursk region of Russia yesterday.
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One blog claimed this morning Ukrainian troops had reached 15km inside the country as Putin struggled to contain the unprecedented incursion.
The Russian military said Ukraine had sent 300 soldiers, 11 tanks, and 20 armoured combat vehicles across the northeastern border yesterday morning.
It’s the same region Ukraine-supporting rebels stormed in a two-pronged assault in March.
Fighting is focused on small villages across the lightly guarded frontier, with Russia said to be evacuating civilians.
Ukraine’s objective of the attack is unknown, but capturing a nearby nuclear power plant could make tyrant Putin face “nuclear blackmail”.
Footage posted of the attack to social media showed fighter jets screaming low over a highway, destroyed Russian helicopters, and burnt out trucks.
Another clip claimed to show captive Russian soldiers walking in a line and escorted by their new Ukrainian guards.
Ukraine claimed that Russia does now “not control the border”.
The valiant eastern European nation also destroyed two Russian Ka-52 helicopters yesterday, with one suspected downed by an FPV drone.
Russia’s Ministry of Defence claimed at first the attack had been repelled in a statement on Telegram, only for it to later scrub the line.
Moscow, which daily bombards Ukrainian civilians and territory, raged against a “terrorist attack”.
The situation was “controllable”, Alexei Smirnov, the acting governor of the southwestern Russian region, said in posts on Telegram.
But Putin’s henchmen had to send reserves in to stop the invading Ukrainian forces, now one of the largest attacks on Russia itself since the war began.
Moscow has also been forced to evacuate several border settlements and it said civilians had been killed in a strike on an ambulance.
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The Russian Army released footage of strikes on the advancing Ukrainian vehicles, including the destruction of a surface-to-air missile system inside Ukraine.
There were a flurry of warnings today that Ukraine may intend the audacious capture or encirclement of Kursk Nuclear Power Plant [NPP] in the thrust into Russian territory.
They would then negotiate with Putin about ceding control of Zaporizhzhia NPP – held by Russia since the start of the war – in exchange.
Videos reportedly showed the overnight shelling of Kurchatov, the town around the Kursk atomic plant, some 31 miles in a straight line – but further by road – from the Ukrainian incursion across the border.
“Nuclear blackmail,” posted Dmitry Rogozin, a senator who was previously Putin’s deputy prime minister and head of the Russian Space Agency.
“This is something that all the world’s media will definitely trumpet about.
“That’s what they [the Ukrainians] are counting on.”
Why does Ukraine launch cross-border strikes on Russia?
By James Halpin, Foreign News Reporter
Ukraine has attacked Russia itself a number of times since Russia invaded their neighbour in February, 2022.
The strikes have included both ground assaults with tanks and troops, and also by using long-range missiles.
In March, Ukraine-supporting rebels from the Freedom of Russia Legion (FRL), Siberian Battalion (SB) and Russian Volunteer Corps (RDK) launched a two-pronged assault.
In May last year, the Free Russia Legion attacked the country as they sought to “build a free Russia”.
None of the incursions have so far been able to hold any land, with the invaders being beaten back or retreating.
Ultimately, they seek to stretch Russian forces, strike Russia in unprotected areas, and destroy critical infrastructure like logistics hubs, ammunition depots, or disrupt Russian events.
He demanded a ruthless response to wipe out Ukrainians crossing the frontier.
Another theory is that Ukraine may seek to disrupt Russian gas exports via Kursk region.
Reports indicated that Ukraine had occupied the settlements of Daryevka, Gogolevka, and Sverdlikovo.
The border town of Sudzha was badly blitzed with most residents evacuating.
More fighting is expected today as the troops push deeper into Russia.
Several Russian conscripts were shown on videos after they were captured at border points by Russian forces.
One, Danil Kolesnikov, 22, a private, served in regiment 488, was held guarding the border at Sudzha.
“I was taken prisoner by Ukrainian troops at the border crossing,” he said.
He – like others held – indicated they had been abandoned by their commanders.
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Asked by his Ukrainian captors his feelings about Putin and his war, the conscript said: “Well, I haven’t thought about it….
“Well, of course…war is always a ****ed up * thing. It’s always bad.
“Especially, in my own Belgorod region….so many corpses, all the s***…it’s not supported.”
Russia widened the front with Ukraine in May after attacking Kharkiv in a surprise offensive.
Ukraine has successfully stalled that attack killing thousands of Russians troops in the fierce battle.
The invasion comes days after Ukraine released footage of its new allied-supplied F-16 fighter jets.
The incredible footage shows the planes flying over Ukraine defending against attacks.
The Kremlin has reportedly put up a pricey bounty for destroying each individual jet and eliminating a Ukrainian pilot.
Ukraine say they now have 10 of the NATO-supplied planes in their war arsenal.
President Volodymyr Zelensky is said to be hoping for almost eight times as many jets in the coming months as they look to continue to stall Putin’s invasion.
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