A drone approaches a column of tanks advancing across a snow-covered field, footage released by Russia's National Guard shows, the location of which was obtained by Radio Free Europe (REL).
The attack took place southwest of the village of Berdin, in Russia's Kursk region, where Ukraine launched a new offensive on January 5.
For this, REL has also verified footage of Russian drones showing Ukrainian armored vehicles nearby.
Ukrainian forces launched a surprise offensive in Kursk in August, taking control of several territories. Since then, they have rebuffed Russia's efforts to expel them outright.
On the other hand, official Russian sources have claimed that they have stopped the new Ukrainian offensive. On January 6, Russia's Defense Ministry claimed to have destroyed Ukrainian tanks around the village of Berdin and prevented their advance.
During this time, Russian pro-war blogs also reported from the area.
The MIG Rossiy Telegram channel said that Ukrainian forces were moving around Berdin, but not attacking it. They added that Ukrainian forces were using armored vehicles to transport infantry into the area.
Satellite images from January 5 showed that the area was filled with large holes, which were not there three days ago.
Another Russian military blog, exilenova_plus, posted a video of a Russian soldier in the region saying the situation was "complicated".
Such clashes were also reported in several other places in Kursk, including the villages of Totkino, Leonidovo and Pushkarnoie.
This has fueled rumors that the movements around Berdini may be a decoy attack – intended to draw Russian forces away from elsewhere on the front.
The commander of a Chechen unit operating with Russian forces in Kursk, Major General Apti Alaudinov, posted a video saying: "We are seeing a concentration of [Ukrainian] enemy equipment in another direction."
However, the scale of the Ukrainian operation so far may indicate that its intentions are tactical rather than strategic.
"The aim here is to capture the town of Bolshoi Soldatskoie... to complicate Russian logistics," military analyst Yan Matveyev told Current Time.
Meanwhile, Israeli military expert, David Gendelman, told REL that it is still not clear what the main target of the attack will be. But, he added that the aim could be to secure a position of Ukraine in Russia.
"If there was a political directive to hold that position, an additional attack makes sense," he added. "Military actions are always a way to realize a political decision."
Until the location of the battle can be determined, it is more difficult to predict how it will play out.
At the same time, there is a Ukrainian military blogger who reported on "panic" in the Russian lines and said that North Korean units fighting for Moscow have also been encountered there.
Russian pro-war blog Rybar said some Ukrainian military vehicles entered Berdin at one point in the fighting. According to various Russian blogs, there have been reports of Russian strikes destroying Ukrainian tank columns in other parts of Kursk.
It was after this event that the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army issued a statement on January 6, saying: "In the Kursk region, Ukrainian defenders stopped 17 attacks by [Russians], another 45 battles continue".
But REL has not been able to verify these battlefield claims.
Ukrainian military analyst Pavlo Narozhniy told REL that he is very cautious in assessing the reports from Kursk for now.
The main questions, he said, concern Ukraine's capacity for a new offensive.
"Do we have sufficient numbers of free reserves and enough artillery to destroy the enemy [Russia's] defenses that are already entrenched in positions? Do we have enough armored vehicles?" he asked. (A2 Televizion)
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