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THIS is the moment crack Ukrainian troops blitzed a £15million Russian Ka-52 attack helicopter out of the sky amid Kyiv’s daring Kursk siege.
Dramatic footage shows the “alligator” military chopper bursting into flames after it was shot down by Kyiv’s anti-aircraft missile system.
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A portable surface-to-air rocket was used down the helicopter which had been targeting Ukrainian troops after they began their cross-border incursion on August 6, 2024.
The chopper then plunged to the ground in a fireball crash inside Kursk near the village of Oleshnya.
Footage of the wreckage shows the obliterated aircraft after it was abandoned by the Russians.
Some 40 Ka-52 choppers have been wiped out from Putin’s war chest since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine war.
The military helicopter is mainly used to engage and destroy ground targets, such as armoured vehicles, enemy fortifications, and infantry positions.
Meanwhile, another footage caught the moment Kyiv’s forces destroyed a key bridge in Kursk in a massive blow to Putin’s war supply lines.
The bridge over the River Seym bursts into flames after a missile strike before collapsing.
Russian Telegram channels claimed it was hammered by US-supplied HIMARS missiles.
The bridge was a crucial supply route for Putin as it was near the Ukrainian border and crossed the Seym River next to the key town of Glushkovsko.
Its destruction “cut off” Putin’s troops within their own country and threatened a major Ukrainian victory as their army advanced.
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted bridges as they respond to the Russian invasion and seek to cut supply lines.
On Thursday night, Ukraine sent a missile barrage at targets near the bridge linking Crimea to Russia.
Ukraine is reportedly seeking to clear the way for a direct strike against the crucial Kerch Bridge, with the Russians fortifying the area.
The £3billion bridge links Crimea to the Russian mainland and has been hit by Ukraine before.
The bridge, a major engineering feat, was Putin’s flagship project and the dictator opened the crossing in 2018.
Ukraine invaded Russia on August 6 and has since captured dozens of towns and capturing 1,150 square kilometres of territory.
Troops have reached 35km (21 miles) inside Russia after the surprise breakthrough and continue to push forward.
Putin has been humiliated by the invasion, which captured the same amount of land in eight days as Russia had in eight months.
It comes as Putin’s “elite” FSB officers were seen waiving white flags on Russian soil.
The footage, released by the Ukrainian forces, starts with two alleged FSB officers frantically waving a white flag in a desperate bid to save their own lives.
The clip then pans to show another man holding a long stick with a white flag on it.
More Russian troops can then be seen coming out of a building – thought to be blitzed by a Ukrainian strike – in a straight line begging for mercy.
Aerial footage captured by a drone then shows a dozen of Putin’s men lifting their hands in the air and giving up in front of the Ukrainians.
Russia’s FSB is the largest security service agency in entire Europe.
Claiming the heritage of the elite KGB from the Soviet Era, its officers are considered to be extremely effective at counterintelligence.
Their act of surrendering is a huge blow to Putin’s prestige.
Kyiv’s daring Kursk seige has so far seen hundreds of Russian troops surrendering on their own territory as a raging Putin is left scrambling to defend home ground.
Why has the Ukrainian invasion of Russia been so successful?
A DARING Ukrainian military push into Russia's Kursk region has become the largest attack on the country since World War Two.
Kyiv’s forces have seized scores of villages, taken hundreds of prisoners and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.
After more than a week of fighting, Russian troops are still struggling to drive out the invaders.
Why has Russian military been caught so unprepared?
- A long undefended border
Russia’s regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod share a 720-mile border with Ukraine – including a 152-mile section in the Kursk region.
And it only had symbolic protection before Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.
It’s been reinforced since then with checkpoints on key roads and field fortifications in places – but not enough to repel a Ukrainian assault.
The most capable Russian units are fighting in eastern Ukraine, leaving the border vulnerable to attack.
- Element of surprise
Ukrainian troops participating in the incursion were reportedly only told about their mission a day before it began.
The secrecy contrasted with last year’s counteroffensive – when Ukraine openly declared its goal of cutting the land corridor to annexed Crimea.
Ukraine ended up failing as troops trudged through Russian minefields and were pummelled by artillery and drones.
But in Kursk, Ukrainian troops didn’t face any of these obstacles.
Battle-hardened units easily overwhelmed Russian border guards and small infantry units made up of inexperienced conscripts.
The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions – facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic.
- Russia’s slow response
The Russian military command initially relied on warplanes and choppers to try to stop the onslaught.
At least one Russian helicopter gunship was shot down and another was damaged.
Moscow began pulling in reinforcements, managing to slow Ukraine’s advances – but failed to completely block troops.
Video of the first hours of Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk region shared by Ukraine’s Air Assault Forces
An infuriated Putin looking at the Chief of the General Staff of Russian Armed Forces Valery Gerasimov during a meeting
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