Ukrainian forces have launched a precision strike on Russian territory, destroying the headquarters of the 40th Separate Guards Marine Brigade in Rylsk, a town within Russia’s Kursk region. The attack, which took place on 11 May, resulted in the confirmed death of Deputy Brigade Commander Alexander Denilof, a veteran of both the full scale invasion of Ukraine since 2022 and prior Russian campaigns in Syria.
Denilof’s elimination marks yet another successful Ukrainian effort in decapitating the Russian military leadership. The strike is part of Ukraine’s expanding strategy to target not only occupying forces within Ukrainian borders, but also key command structures deep within Russian soil. The move raises fresh doubts about Moscow’s claimed control over its border regions.
Despite Russian military announcements in April boasting that the Kursk region had been fully secured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy refuted the claims the following day, asserting that Ukrainian forces remain actively engaged in operations there.
Ukrainian Lieutenant General Serhii Naiev, commander of the Vuhledar Tactical Group, also reported intense Russian assaults in the Novopavlivka direction, where Kremlin forces have been trying to break through to the Dnipropetrovsk region using a mixture of tanks, armoured vehicles and even motorcycles. Ukrainian forces, through aerial reconnaissance and coordinated drone and artillery strikes, repelled these attacks, eliminating more than seventy enemy personnel, two tanks, six armoured vehicles, and several motorcycles.
The general noted that over the past month, Russian forces had significantly intensified their attacks. Ukrainian defenders endured 1,916 assaults, 9,734 artillery strikes and more than 16,000 drone incidents. Despite this, Ukrainian forces reduced their losses by fifteen percent and made tactical gains in key areas, with nearly 10,000 Russian troops “voluntarily demilitarised”, according to Naiev.
In a further blow to Russian efforts, a Kaz truck transporting captured Western-made military vehicles to Ufa for propaganda exhibitions crashed in Bashkortostan. The vehicle, loaded with a French VAB and American M113 armoured personnel carriers seized from Ukrainian forces, slid into a ditch after colliding with a Kia passenger car. The crash injured two individuals. These military exhibitions, dubbed “NATO Trophy Equipment”, aim to bolster support for the war at home while concealing the Kremlin’s staggering losses. According to the independent Oryx monitoring group, Russia has lost over 21,550 military units since the full scale invasion began, including nearly 4,000 tanks.
Earlier this year, a similar exhibition turned tragic when the hatch of an M113 crushed and killed a 4 year old boy in Komsomolsk, further underscoring the recklessness of Russia’s propaganda machine.
Meanwhile, in Washington, plans are under way for a military parade celebrating the 250th anniversary of the US Army, which will coincide with President Donald Trump’s birthday. The event, projected to cost up to $35.4 million (GBP £28 million), includes the deployment of Abrams tanks to the National Mall. Critics have labelled the event an authoritarian spectacle, particularly as it is being promoted while federal budgets face sharp cuts.
Trump also hinted at the development of a new F-55 combat aircraft and a “Super Raptor” version of the F-22, though defence analysts remain unclear whether his statements represent new defence policy or political theatre.
