This is the dramatic moment Ukraine wiped out an entire convoy of Russian military supply trucks in a single ambush.
The obliteration of the trucks, which appeared to be sitting ducks for Kyiv’s forces, has raised questions about Russia’s military tactics. Drone footage captured the devastating attack in which Ukranian rockets took out the trucks one by one.
Ukraine‘s 14th Battalion spotted the six military trucks roughly 30km behind the front line in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Both cluster and conventional ammunition were used during the attack.
The Ukranian forces first used US-made HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Rocket System) to promptly fire a salvo of M30 and M31 GMLRS rockets against the convoy, before unleashing the hundreds of submunitions at them.
The Russian army’s six Ural-4320 supply trucks were completely wiped out in the attack.
The 14th Battalion later explained the ambush, joking that the attack was intended to teach the Russians a lesson in basic logistics.
A spokesman said: “An entire enemy convoy stopped at the edge of the road.
“It is not known what caused the stop: the commander went out for a smoke or something broke down.
“But the fact is that a bunch of trucks concentrated in one spot.
“Our pilots decided to remind the enemy of the basics of military logistics: convoys should not be stopped halfway, and even better, they should disperse their equipment. The Russians received a barrage of fire.”
The ambush comes as Ukraine tries to stall Russia‘s recent gains in eastern Ukraine.
On Wednesday, Moscow claimed it had captured two more villages in eastern Ukraine, as Russian forces inched closer to the strategically important city of Pokrovsk.
Also on Wednesday, the British Ministry of Defence confirmed that “Russian forces have made further gains in the vicinity of Vuhledar in south-eastern Ukraine“.
The MoD continued: “It is highly likely that Russian forces now threaten the town from three sides. They are already contesting the outskirts of the town, against which Russia has made repeated assaults since 2022.
“It is likely that Russian forces will continue to pressure this heavily defended part of the line over the next week.
However, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Tuesday that the possible “capture of Vuhledar is unlikely to afford Russian forces any particular operational edge for further offensive operations”.
The 72nd Mechanized Brigade has defended Vuhledar for nearly two years. Russian forces have been trying to capture the town since the start of the invasion in 2022.