Ukrainian Aerial Attack Destroys Military Convoy Inside Russia

New footage posted to social media on Monday appears to show Ukrainian drones destroy a convoy of Russian military equipment inside Russian territory after Kyiv's allies recently greenlit targeting inside Russia with Western weapons.

A brief video shared to X, formerly Twitter, by Ukraine's Defense Ministry, appears to show at least a dozen Russian vehicles traveling in a convoy through the border Kursk region to the north of Ukraine's Sumy region.

The vehicles, carrying military supplies, were "destroyed by the collaborative efforts of the 53rd Mechanized Brigade and the 103rd Territorial Defense Brigade," Kyiv wrote in a statement.

The convoy was travelling under two miles from the Russian border with the Sumy region, according to open-source intelligence accounts and Ukrainian sources. Ukrainian drones targeted the vehicles east of the village of Sverdlikovo, to the north of Ukraine's border Novenke settlement, according to the Ukrainian Deep State analytics project.

There was no heavy equipment on board, the Deep State Telegram channel added on Monday.

The vehicles in the center of the convoy "managed to disperse as best they could," Kyiv wrote in subtitles added to the clip.

The video looks to show several smoke trails and explosions. The footage also appears to show clips from a number of Ukrainian kamikaze, or explosive drones, as they barrel into a series of vehicles that look to have been separated from the convoy.

Newsweek could not independently verify this clip and has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry for comment via email.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian officials have warned of a Russian build up close to the Sumy region, to the west of Ukraine's Kharkiv region where Moscow launched a new offensive early last month.

In late May, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Moscow was amassing "another group of troops near our border" northwest of Kharkiv.

Just weeks earlier, Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's GUR military intelligence agency, said that once Russia stabilized the front line in Kharkiv it would turn its attention to Sumy.

Ukraine has stemmed the momentum Russia had early on in the offensive on Kharkiv, but questions remain over how Kyiv's resources could contend with a renewed Russian push in the north.

Ukraine has repeatedly launched drone attacks across the border into internationally-recognized Russian territory since February 2022 when the war began, although it has tended to be tight-lipped on confirming its hand in these strikes.

In recent weeks, Kyiv's Western allies have increasingly stated they support Ukraine using Western-supplied weapons to strike inside Russia—something that was previously a touchy subject.

President Joe Biden recently granted Ukraine permission to use some American-supplied weapons to strike targets in Russia, but with major caveats. Kyiv may only use the weapons in Russian territory bordering northeast Ukraine for the purpose of defending its Kharkiv region, and the use of long-range missiles such as ATACMS is prohibited on Russian soil, U.S. officials familiar with the matter told media outlets, including Newsweek.

Many nations within the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), including France, Poland, and the United Kingdom, recently said they didn't have any objections regarding the use of the equipment they provided to Kyiv in its ongoing war. However, the U.S. had remained steadfast in its policy that its weapons must only be used on Ukrainian territory.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin denounced Western countries allowing Ukraine to strike Russia as escalatory.

Russian President Vladimir Putin warned late last month that NATO countries, "especially the ones based in Europe, particularly in small European countries, should be fully aware of what is at stake" by permitting Ukraine to strike Russian territory with Western weapons.

"They should keep in mind that theirs are small and densely populated countries, which is a factor to reckon with before they start talking about striking deep into the Russian territory," he said. "This constant escalation can lead to serious consequences."

"It is another step toward a serious conflict in Europe, toward a global conflict," the Russian leader added.

The Kursk region has felt the impact of Russia's invasion, with Ukrainian drones targeting Russia's critical infrastructure and oil facilities.

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