The Ukrainian military captured the moment a $100 million (£77m) Russian air defence system blew up spectacularly.
Ukraine’s Southern Defense Forces pinpointed the elite Russian BUK-M2 air defence system before wiping it out with a missile.
The video shows the Russian air defence system uncovered in the middle of a forest in the Zaporizhzhia region.
The Ukrainian Southern Command then unleashed a HIMARS MLRS missile, destroying the Russian installation with a huge explosion that could be seen from the sky. The Russian military crew operating the BUK-M2 died in the blast.
Ukraine’s Defence Ministry shared a video of the strike, commenting: “Destruction of a Russian BUK-M2 air defence system is, of course, good. However, destruction of a Russian BUK with a spectacular fireworks finale is truly amazing.”
The BUK-M2, first developed by the Soviet Union, is designed to intercept aeroplanes, helicopters, drones and cruise missiles.
It usually contains a command and control centre, a detection and targeting station, and a radar station inside.
This comes as Ukraine’s Defence Ministry also claimed that 1630 Russian soldiers were killed or wounded in a single day of fighting on Thursday, October 24.
This puts the total number of Russian troops lost at 685,910, according to the Ukrainians.
Also, on Thursday, the Ukrainian military wiped out seven tanks, 33 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 artillery systems, and 73 UAVs or drones.
The shocking scale of the death toll among Russian soldiers could be part of the reason why Russia has turned to North Korean forces to fill in gaps on the frontline.
The Ukrainian military intelligence service (HUR) has confirmed that North Korean troops have left their training grounds in Russia and have “entered the zone of combat”.
The first North Korean units are fighting in the Kursk region.
According to updated estimates from Kyiv, Pyongyang has transferred about 12,000 troops to Russia, including 500 officers and three army generals.
North Korean soldiers are being trained at five military sites in the far east of Russia and will have to pass a training course lasting several weeks before being deployed in the war.
