A PAIR of Vladimir Putin’s top colonels have reportedly been eliminated in a Storm Shadow missile blitz by Ukraine.

The deadly drone ambush is said to have wiped out a Russian Lieutenant Colonel and a battalion chief who were hiding out in a bunker in Kursk.

Lieutenant Colonel Valery Tereshchenko was targeted in the command post along with eight other senior officers.

One of these included Colonel Pavel Maletsky, 39, who is the commander of the 656th separate engineer-sapper battalion.

The fatal blast tore through the city of Lgov on December 30, with images showing the moment of the explosion.

Bright flashes of orange can be seen over the area where the command post was reportedly sat.

The high-ranking casualties have only been revealed today as details of their funerals appeared to emerge. 

Putin is yet to officially announce the deaths with Russian media staying quiet over the blast.

But a tribute to Tereshchenko has been posted by the Russian Officers’ Ice Hockey League.

They announced “with bitterness and sorrow in our hearts” Tereshchenko died in the missile strike. 

He has played a pivotal role in Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine which is near approaching the three year mark.

been involved in the Russian invasion of Ukraine since October 2022.

He is being buried today. 

Separately, a  friend confirmed Maletsky’s death in the same missile strike. 

The deaths of the two colonels come amid reports from both sides that Ukraine is staging an offensive in Kursk region, where Putin has positioned thousands of North Korean fighters to grab back  territory controlled by Kyiv since an August 2024 incursion. 

Ukrainian troops are moving from Sudzha towards Bolshoye Soldatskoye seeking to expand their land grab on Putin’s territory, exploiting frozen ground to push forwards. 

The scale of the advance was not immediately clear. 

“The Ukrainian Armed Forces are actively using heavy equipment,” said one report.

“The offensive is associated with the frozen ground, which is favourable for equipment.”

In another blow to Putin, Ukrainian military intelligence today claimed to have “eliminated” Sergey Melnikov, 52, chief of staff of Russia’s Storm-Ossetia battalion, in a drone strike in the occupied Zaporizhzhia region of Ukraine. 

Drone footage showed how his vehicle was targeted by the FPV ambush. 

Milnikov’s driver was also killed, according to reports. 

And Russia also suffered the loss of an Mi-28 helicopter in an unexplained crash in Voronezh region.

It is the fifth destroyed or damaged military helicopter in the past week, and the second Mi-28.

Three Mi-8 helicopters were hit by strikes from Ukrainian missile-firing Magura V5 Ukrainian sea drones in an historic first for modern warfare. 

One of the Mi-8 helicopters managed to return to its base and land despite suffering damage. 

The other two crashed with one report saying 16 people were killed. 

The earlier Russian  Mi-28 was lost in a friendly fire incident.

On Saturday night, Russia attacked Ukraine with 103 drones of which 61 were shot down and 42 ‘lost’.

Russia said 61 Ukrainian drones were destroyed in five regions.