Russian military convoy decimated by HIMARS strike near Kursk: new details emerge on casualties and units involved
On the night of August 9, a large Russian military convoy including numerous soldiers was obliterated in Kursk region. In a grim discovery, Russian journalists have identified that the decimated military column targeted by a HIMARS strike included personnel from at least two different units — military unit 13140 (810th Marine Brigade, Sevastopol) and military unit 72164 (Leningrad region).
According to the Russian outlet ASTRA, the first bodies of those killed in the HIMARS strike on the Russian convoy in the Kursk region began arriving at Russian morgues. The victims included contract soldiers.
The convoy, comprising Russian military vehicles and personnel, was annihilated on the night of August 9 near the village of Oktyabrskoye in the Rylsky district of Kursk Oblast. A 48-year-old resident of a Kursk village was detained for spreading video footage of the attack’s aftermath online.
As reported by ASTRA, the obliterated column included troops from military unit 13140 and military unit 72164.
One relative of a soldier from unit 72164, who lost contact, recounted the last call she received around 11:40 PM on August 8. Following this call, communication ceased and remains lost. The whereabouts and fate of these soldiers remain unknown.
“My husband called at 11:36 PM, and then couldn’t be reached. The attack took place exactly at midnight,” claimed the wife of one soldier missing since the strike.
The exact death toll remains uncertain, ranging from 96 to 300 casualties. Among the dead were conscripts; at least one mother reported her son's death.
“My son was a contract soldier. We don’t know when the funeral will be, they only just brought them to Rostov. There’s so many of them, all the hospitals and morgues are full. They died on August 9, that’s the date we were given,” the mother of Nikolai Linkov (unit 13140) from Bolkhuny village in Astrakhan region told ASTRA.
Family members reported that some soldiers from military unit 72164, initially stationed in Kursk on August 6, were sent on a mission to Ukraine the next day. They were en route to Vovchansk but were diverted towards Kursk.
Surviving soldiers from unit 72164 started contacting their families from Moscow. Those unscathed were redeployed to positions near Kursk, though they were unaware of their new exact locations. Some surviving soldiers allegedly deserted, their whereabouts unknown.