Ukrainian forces staged an overnight ambush on a Russian convoy 25 miles inside the international border in Russia’s Kursk province, as the Kremlin declared a federal emergency and said it was transferring extra forces to try to snuff out a four-day incursion that has badly damaged its credibility.

A video circulated by Russian military bloggers showed a destroyed convoy, with bodies just visible inside some trucks, on the E38 east-west highway at Oktyabrskoe, a location far deeper inside Russia than any previously confirmed fighting since Ukraine’s forces crossed the border on Tuesday.

Commentators said the attack, reminiscent of Ukrainian attacks on Russian troops besieging Kyiv in the first weeks of the war, demonstrated an effective hit-and-run strategy, but the incursion appeared likely to draw an escalating response from the Kremlin, and its overall outcome remains profoundly uncertain.

  • x00z@lemmy.world
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    3 months ago

    I read that this attack isn’t meant to keep the territory occupied and is more of wake up call for the Russians.

    • fuckingkangaroos@lemm.ee
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      3 months ago

      Yeah, the Kremlin has to look strong right now, so they need to scramble to put together a force to deal with this, and the Russian army isn’t nimble.

      • fine_sandy_bottom@lemmy.federate.cc
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        3 months ago

        IDK anything about military strategy but surely this type of attack forces Russia to re-deploy.

        As in, they can’t have as many troops in offensive positions because they need to defend their own borders.

        • Blumpkinhead@lemmy.world
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          3 months ago

          It’s like the neighborhood bully is out slapping around all the smaller kids until he realizes a few of them snuck into his house and are putting their balls all over his prized drum set.