Russian forces face significant losses amid Ukrainian counteroffensive

Additional forces are being deployed to Russia's Kursk region, which has been under attack by Ukrainian forces since Tuesday. Russian television channel Zvezda aired Russian troops' movements, providing Ukrainians with invaluable information.

According to the ministry's statement, columns containing Grad rocket launchers, artillery equipment, tanks, and Ural and KamAZ trucks are headed towards the location where Ukrainian forces initiated their attack.

A federal state of emergency was declared in the Kursk region on Friday. According to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in some areas, Ukrainian forces have already penetrated 35 kilometres deep into the region.

The television channel Zvezda showed everything on screen. In the footage from Kursk, you can see a military column heading towards the site of the operations. The type of weaponry being moved is easily identifiable in the recording. Russian Telegram channels immediately raised the alarm, stating that this was "blatant sabotage." "Doing this live with geolocation is not only stupid but informs the enemy openly," reads the channel Two Majors on the Telegram app.

On Thursday, recordings appeared online showing another Russian military column. During the night, it was attacked by Ukrainians. The channel Astra published footage of the aftermath of the attack.

According to military analyst Yan Matveev, quoted by Agenstwo.Nowosti, the entire battalion was destroyed. "This is one of the bloodiest and most massive bombardments (most likely HIMARS) of the entire war" – he wrote.

According to the Nexta channel, which thoroughly analysed the footage, Russians may have lost between 200 and 490 soldiers in this attack. "This may be one of the largest single losses for the Russian army since the start of the full-scale war" – it reads.