OPEN FIRE!
Vids reveal FIRST dramatic moments of Ukraine’s Russian invasion with explosive opening salvos before push across border
The latest footage shows Ukraine attacking with a massive missile barrage
DRAMATIC video has revealed the first moments of Ukraine's invasion of Russia with explosive rocket salvos and tanks rolling across the border.
The footage comes as Kyiv has seized dozens of villages and occupied more then 1,000sq km - humiliating Vladimir Putin.
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Ukraine has revealed for the first time footage of the initial hours of their dramatic August 6 thrust into the Russian homeland.
The videos - hidden until now - show how they took an ill-prepared Russia totally by surprise with their border breakthrough.
It was posted by was posted by paratroopers - the Airborne Assault Troops Command's press office.
One sequence shows Russian FSB security service border guards along with army conscripts emerging with white flags from the blitzed ruins of the Sudzha border checkpoint.
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The well-guarded border point was taken by Ukraine’s 80th Separate Air Assault Galician Brigade.
The footage also shows missile strikes and Ukrainian armoured vehicles pushing easily through open fields and built-up areas.
Dozens of surrendering Russian forces are shown kneeling down being guarded by Ukrainian troops.
The video also shows de-mining, the destruction of enemy defensive lines, air force and artillery operations, and taking prisoners.
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The official channel of the Air Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said it was “a day that will go down in the history of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
“Careful preparation, planning, surprise, high morale, and information silence were crucial in the initial phase of the operation.”
Ukraine uses Challenger 2 tanks to storm into Russia in Kursk incursion 'but one destroyed'
Now, says the release, future success in the incursion will depend on “the resilience of the Ukrainian soldier in all branches of the armed forces involved in the operation”.
Some of the troops involved with the invasion spent time in the UK training alongside British soldiers.
A major focus of the training was raids on high-rise buildings and the troops became specialists in street fighting, The Times reported.
Ukrainian troops have come across booby traps as they have made their way through the countryside and villages, like poisoned 'supply' packages left for them by the Russians.
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It comes as Aleksei Zhivov, a Russian military volunteer and political analyst, has demanded Putin quizzes his top brass over why they ignored clear advance intelligence about the Ukrainian incursion.
"We were not taken by surprise [over the invasion in the Kursk region],” he told Vashi Novosti.
“Everything was reported [by military intelligence] in a timely manner, multiple times.”
Zhivov insisted: “There is information in both open and closed sources that all [Ukrainian troop] gatherings and military and analytical reports were communicated two weeks in advance, a month in advance, five days in advance, and two days in advance.
“There were the last red warning lights flashing from various military units indicating that a military operation might begin soon.
"This question [how Russia missed the preparation for the Ukrainian attack in the Kursk region] is not for me, it is for the General Staff.
“The Supreme Commander-in-Chief [Vladimir Putin] should ask this question to the General Staff.”
Blame is being attached to chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov amid speculation in Moscow that Putin is readying to replace him.
Sources say Vlad is seething at Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov, who was strangely missing from Moscow's crunch Security Council meeting last Friday.
Gerasimov, 68, has been accused of knowing that Ukraine's invasion of Kursk was imminent - but decided not to tell Russian hierarchy.
Russia had used unprepared conscript units on the border, with many of them throwing their arms up in surrender in the invasion.
One Russian mother, Oksana Deeva, has launched a petition for officials to remove the untrained troops out of hot areas.
Careful preparation, planning, surprise, high morale, and information silence were crucial in the initial phase of the operation
Ukrainian Air Assault Force
She wrote: “We are the mothers of conscripts, and we ask you to withdraw conscripts from combat zones. They have no experience in military engagements and lack weapons.
“A full-scale offensive is currently taking place in our territory. Please save the lives of untrained soldiers in combat."
Vlad has reportedly called in his ex-bodyguard to lead the defence of Kursk in a sign of dwindling trust in those running the flailing operation.
Alexei Dyumin, 51, is now said to be coordinating the defence ministry, security agencies and regional authorities in the rush to save Russian regions from Kyiv's forces.
Meanwhile, Belarusian dictator Alexander Lukashenko has urged Vlad to bring an end to the Ukraine war.
Speaking to Russian state television, Lukashenko said "high-ranking people of American origin" want the war to continue so Ukraine and Russia "destroy each other".
But he pleaded with mad Vlad: "Let's sit down at the negotiating table and end this brawl."
The Ukrainian ambush, launched last Tuesday, has led to the capture of huge slices of Russian territory, with President Volodymyr Zelensky claiming more than 70 towns and villages have been taken.
That figure has been estimated at closer to 50 by independent researchers, but the surge's success now also includes the trophy of the strategically important town of Sudzha.
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With a prewar population of about 5,000, it's Kyiv's biggest coup so far.
It also means it is the largest Russian town to fall into foreign hands since Nazi forces invaded the country in the Second World War.
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.
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