The US-supplied armored vehicle was allegedly hit as it was moving along a road in the Ukraine-Russia border area, footage shows
Russian troops have allegedly destroyed an American-made Stryker armored fighting vehicle in Kursk Region. A video showing a successful hit was published by a Russian Telegram channel called Troyka on Wednesday.
A 19-seconds-long clip was apparently recorded from another unmanned aerial vehicle that was apparently flying at a low altitude over a crop field. At some point, a Stryker vehicle could be seen moving down a dirt road along the same field and near a wooded area.
The armored vehicle then goes up in flames, producing large clouds of grey smoke after apparently being struck by a drone. According to the caption to the video, Russian marines targeted the vehicle with a Lancet-family kamikaze drone.
This family of drones, also sometimes referred to as loitering munitions, has become one of the key medium-range tools in the Russian arsenal amid the conflict, with the Lancets repeatedly used to take out Ukrainian high-value assets, such as mobile and towed artillery, anti-aircraft, radar and other systems.
Developed by ZALA Aero Group, which is part of Kalashnikov Group, the drone has several modifications, carrying a payload of up to three kilograms (well over six pounds) with a maximum range of 50 kilometers (just over 30 miles). The drones were even successfully used against heavily armored targets like Western-supplied tanks.
The Russian Defense Ministry did not mention the specific strike in its latest daily briefing on the situation in the border region. According to the ministry, Moscow’s troops are continuing their counteroffensive in the region, which was invaded by Kiev’s troops in early August.
Ukrainian forces lost over 450 servicemen as well as two tanks, three infantry fighting vehicles, including two US-made Bradleys as well as two M113 armored personnel carriers, 33 armored vehicles and five artillery pieces over the previous 24-hour period, according to the Russian military data.
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French-made armor destroyed in Kursk Region (VIDEO)
Kiev’s forces made some initial progress in the early days of their operation in the Kursk Region but were quickly contained. Russian troops have been gradually pushing the invading force away from the region ever since.
Over three months since the start of the incursion, the Russian military has managed to win back more than a dozen settlements close to the border. The total number of Ukrainian soldiers killed in the operation has surpassed 32,000, according to the Russian Defense Ministry’s latest estimates.