Sickening moment Russian fighter brandishes severed head of Ukrainian soldier impaled on a stake - while Zelensky's forces blast key bridge with US missiles as their advance into Putin terrain gets even bloodier

A barbaric Russian soldier has claimed that his battalion has 'blown the heads off' Ukrainian servicemen - with sickening video allegedly showing a severed head impaled on a pole.

The appalling footage has been reported as a war crime to the United Nations by the Kyiv authorities, and was seemingly made at a Russian border point in the Belgorod region.

Ukrainian troops made a failed bid to break through the Kolotilovka checkpoint into Russia this week in an apparent effort to expand their invasion - which has already seen Kyiv's forces seize huge swathes of territory in the neighbouring Kursk region.

Moscow said today that Kyiv has used Western rockets, likely US-made HIMARS, in the region for the first time to destroy a bridge over the Seym river, with dramatic video showing the devastating attack.

The destruction of the key bridge is just the latest blow to Vladimir Putin - as Volodymyr Zelensky's forces aim to thwart the dictator's war supply lines and inflict 'maximum damage on all Russian positions'.

A Russian soldier in the 155th Brigade of the Pacific Fleet says the 'dead men' of his unit 'salute you, Khokhols' - a derogatory word used by Russians for Ukrainians

The sickening video - shared by a Russian telegram account - allegedly shows a severed head impaled on a pole

As the Ukrainian invasion of Russia's Kursk region enters its twelfth day, Kyiv has claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 440 square miles (1,150 square km).

The Russian defence ministry has today claimed that Ukraine is planning to attack the Kursk nuclear power plant and blame such a 'provocation' on Moscow, Interfax news agency reports.

The ministry said Russia would respond harshly in the event of such an attack, which it said would contaminate a large surrounding area.

It comes after the Russian management of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in occupied Ukraine said earlier today that a Ukrainian drone dropped an explosive charge on a road outside the plant, endangering staff, according to TASS.

Russia has been in control of Zaporizhzhia, the largest nuclear power plant in Europe, since soon after it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

The plant is dormant as Moscow and Kyiv have repeatedly accused each other of trying to sabotage its operations and endangering safety around the plant.

Russian propaganda has been in overdrive as Putin's men desperately try to save face following Ukraine's surprise incursion into Kursk.

Putin's forces have been claiming the successful defence of Kolotilovka against Ukrainian marines as a victory and have attempted to use it as a warning as they continue to try to repel Ukrainian troops.

In a chilling video of the aftermath of the battle earlier this week, a Russian soldier brags on camera about their supposed triumph.

The soldier - thought to be from the 155th Brigade of the Pacific Fleet - says the 'dead men' of his unit 'salute you, Khokhols' - a derogatory word used by Russians for Ukrainians.

People gather in the courtyard of a residential building, which according to local authorities was hit by debris from a destroyed Ukrainian missile, in the course of Russia-Ukraine conflict in Kursk, Russia August 11

A Ukrainian serviceman stands on a flag of Russia's mercenary group Wagner, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine August 13, 2024

Ukrainian servicemen hide from shelling, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine August 13, 2024

The Russian defence ministry has today claimed that Ukraine is planning to attack the Kursk nuclear power plant and blame such a 'provocation' on Moscow

'You have made an unforgivable mistake, stepping with your filthy pig hooves on our holy land,' he threatened. 'Today some of you have had your heads blown off by our pressure.'

He went on with his sinister threat: 'It will be the same every time we meet. The dead have no pity. The dead men know no fear. The dead are coming for you, Khokhol.'

Dmytro Lubinets, Ukraine's human rights commissioner, said he had contacted the UN and the Red Cross over the abominable footage filmed at the Kolotilovka checkpoint.

'The enemy uses such videos to intimidate and demoralise Ukrainians,' he said. 'However, this only strengthens our desire to bring everyone who commits such inhuman atrocities to inevitable accountability.'

It is unclear how the Ukrainian serviceman was beheaded.

The day this happened - August 12 - another video showed a daring bid by Ukrainian troops to crash through the border at high speed in a Kozak-2 armoured vehicle.

The vehicle came to a halt on concrete 'dragon's teeth' barricades and then exploded after a drone strike.

Some of the Ukrainian paratroopers escaped from the Kozak-2 alive and reports said they were then 'liquidated' by the Russians.

The day this happened - August 12 - another video showed a daring bid by Ukrainian troops to crash through the border at high speed in a Kozak-2 armoured vehicle 

The armoured vehicle was attacked with a drone and explosive shells

The barbarity involving the severed head is allegedly the work of the Russia's 155th separate marine brigade from the Russian Pacific Fleet. It is known they were transferred to this part of Russia.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, the 155th Guards Brigade was involved in atrocities such as the killings of civilians earlier in the war in Bucha, Irpen and Hostomel in the Kyiv region.

Unfazed by the latest threat and urging his armed forces to keep pressing on, Zelensky said in his latest video address: 'We see that the occupier is suffering losses, and this is helpful, very helpful for our defence.

'It is about destroying the logistics of the Russian army and draining their reserves.

'We must inflict maximum damage on all Russian positions, and we are doing that.

'I thank each of our warriors for their precision, I thank them for strength and for resilience.'

Kyiv will be heartened by its latest successful attack on Russian infrastructure - the downing of a key bridge in over the Seim River, preventing Putin from transferring personnel and supply reinforcements in the border area.

Dramatic aerial footage shows a huge blast at the key crossing in the Kursk region

The bridge in Glushkovsky district was blown apart in a second strike, after the first attempt holed the structure but left it intact

Pictures show the completely destroyed bridge after the alleged HIMARS strike

The bridge in Glushkovsky district was blown apart in a second strike, after the first attempt holed the structure but left it intact. Reports indicate this is not the only bridge to be destroyed.

'For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American HIMARS,' Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said late on Friday on the Telegram messaging app.

'As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian population were killed.'

A frantic post from a pro-war channel said: 'Part of the Glushkovsky district is now cut off. This is Tyotkino, Popovo-Lezhachi, Volfino and about 27 more settlements.

'The civilian population can now only be evacuated by water. The enemy is also hitting the bridge in the village of Zvannoye in the Glushkovsky district.'

The blown up bridge is some 13 miles inside Russia from the border.

It is yet another humiliation for Putin who has shown himself unable to control his own territory, while trying to swallow neighbour Ukraine.