Konrad Muzyka, a military analyst at Rochan Consulting, said: “It appears the Ukrainians want to capture as much Russian territory as possible, probably dig in, and force Russians to fight for it. There also could be an expectation that some forces would be redirected from other areas, such as Kharkiv and Donetsk Oblasts.
“In this context, Kyiv could be conducting a ‘reverse-Kharkiv’ [Russian attack in May] operation to force Russians to spread their forces and ease pressure elsewhere.”
Yesterday, Britain’s Ministry of Defence said Moscow’s soldiers were within 10 miles of Pokrovsk, a key Ukrainian garrison town in the Donetsk region.
Meanwhile, both Russia and Ukraine carried out long-range aerial attacks.
As Kyiv continued to fight on Russian soil, Moscow’s forces launched a daylight missile strike on a supermarket and post office in the eastern Ukrainian town of Kostyantynivka, killing 12 civilians and injuring 44 more, Volodymyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, said.
Officials shared footage of a plume of smoke rising above the remains of the building as rescue workers tried to free shoppers trapped under the debris.
Another image showed what officials claimed to the remains of a child in a body bag who had died in the strike.
“Russia will answer for this terror,” Mr Zelensky wrote on the Telegram messaging app.
“We will do everything to ensure that the world continues to be with Ukraine, supporting our defence and saving the lives of our people.”
The Ukrainian Himars strike on the Russian reinforcement convoy was described by military bloggers as one of the bloodiest of the entire war.
The Telegraph geolocated the two video clips to the E38 highway in the Russian town of Oktyabr’skoe, more than 20 miles from the border with Ukraine.
The convoy was likely travelling to reinforce the Russian presence in the settlement of Korenevo about 12 miles away, the closest point Russian sources have reported combat.