New footage shared by Ukraine’s paratroopers appears to show soldiers in a US-supplied Stryker armored vehicle running over a Russian fighter jet after running out of ammunition.
The short video, shared by the Ukrainian Air Raid Forces on the messaging app Telegram on Monday, purports to show Kiev forces chasing Russian soldiers in Russia’s western Kursk region.
Newsweek was unable to independently verify the clip and reached out to Russia’s Defense Ministry for comment via email.
why is it important
Russia has been fighting Ukraine in Kursk since Kiev launched a surprise cross-border invasion into Russian territory in August 2024. Ukraine still controls about half of the territory it captured in late summer, but Moscow is fighting across the border to wrest control of Kiev.
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Headquarters of the Airborne Assault Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Moscow has deployed North Korean fighter jets in the Kursk region in recent months, drawing international attention to the area where foreign troops entered Russia for the first time since World War II.
On Sunday, the Russian Defense Ministry and influential Russian military bloggers announced that Ukraine had launched a new operation northeast of the Kursk border town of Suzha, which Kiev captured in early August. The Ukrainian military has not officially reported a new joint attack on Kursk, although several senior officials in Kiev have hinted at a new attack.
What you need to know
Ukraine’s military said the video showed soldiers from the country’s 80th Independent Air Assault Brigade operating in an unspecified area of Kursk in a Stryker armored vehicle. It’s not clear when the video was shot.
The military said the paratroopers ran out of ammunition “after intense fighting.” The statement said Russian troops “were in close proximity and posed a danger.”
Running out of ammunition, the Ukrainian M1126 Striker resorts to crushing Putin’s savages individually in a frantic but pursuit of justice. pic.twitter.com/qNDqQpfVQk
— JayinKyiv (@JayinKyiv) January 6, 2025
According to the Kiev Airborne Forces, the Stryker crews seen in the video “pursue the enemy across the field and crush Russian troops with their armor and wheels.” The military said the Ukrainian soldier driving the Stryker aimed at the Russian troops, while the gunner “got out of the hatch and opened fire on the Russian troops with small arms fire.”
The United States has sent more than 400 Strykers to Ukraine since February 2022, according to Pentagon documents. A number of Stryker vehicles have reportedly been deployed to Kursk in recent months.
Ukrainian officials have praised how U.S.-donated equipment, including Stryker vehicles, Bradley infantry fighting vehicles and 31 M1 Abrams tanks, has performed well against Russian forces. Targeting U.S.-supplied equipment is a point of pride for the Russian government.
who said what
“When our paratroopers run out of ammunition, we will crush the enemy with our armor and wheels!” the Ukrainian Air Assault Forces said on Telegram on Monday.
“In the past 24 hours, the Ukrainian army has lost up to 485 military personnel in the Kursk sector,” the Russian Ministry of Defense announced in a telegram on Monday night.
what happens next
Russia has sent senior defense officials to Kursk to oversee operations against Ukraine in Kursk and hopes to defeat Kiev in the region as soon as possible. Kursk is likely to take part in peace talks that begin after President-elect Donald Trump returns to the White House later this month, with both sides hoping to negotiate from a position of strength.
