A driver has been filmed launching a ferocious road rage attack on a car – armed with an axe.
The man stepped out of his vehicle, grabbed the weapon and began striking another car – as two young children cowered inside it.
A young girl is heard screaming in fear and holding her hands over her eyes in what is being dubbed in Russia as one of the worst road rage attacks ever.
The incident saw a man attack a car with an axe
A manhunt is now underway for the middle-aged driver who left the scene shortly after the attack.
A minor dispute on a highway near a park in St Petersburg led to the appalling altercation, with an hysterical woman begging the angry driver of a black Land Cruiser to calm down before the incident exploded into violence.
The dispute began when the driver of an Audi car - a man in his 30s - hooted when the other vehicle stopped abruptly in heavy traffic.
The two cars did not bump, but prompted a roadside shouting match.
A terrified child weeps in the aftermath of the attack
Throughout the woman with the enraged Land Cruiser driver tries to calm him, but he constantly fights off her attempts during the spat on the busy highway.
After several minutes of enraged argument with the driver of the Audi - in which two small children were in the back seat - the white shirted owner of the Land Cruiser suddenly went to the back of his vehicle and pulled out a long-handled axe.
The saloon car driver rushed back into his car, and began reversing it when the axeman smashed his weapon onto the bonnet of the car.
A second blow hit the windscreen of the Audi manoeuvred his car away.
The children in the car are heard screaming, as is the woman - possibly the attacker's wife - as she tried but failed to restrain him.
A manhunt has been launched
He then aimed another blow at the back seat window where the children were sitting, but failed to strike the car.
Amid the anguished screams two children's voices are hearing shouting "Papa!".
The axeman struck the Audi three times, fortunately not harming anyone inside the car. He then chased the Audi on foot but soon gave up, returning clutching his weapon.
The Audi driver made away, and was followed by another the driver who had filmed the road rage nightmare but not intervened as the horror unfolded.
This third driver offered the Audi driver his footage to show to the police. "Brother, I filmed everything, let me give it to you and help," he said.
It is now routine for drivers in Russia to have dashboard cameras to use as evidence in insurance claims, and to lower the risk of being framed by bribe-taking traffic police.