Ukraine says struck second key bridge in Russia's Kursk region

KIEV

In this footage released by the Ukrainian armed forces on Sunday, Aug. 18, 2024, smoke billows in what is said to show the destruction of a key bridge in Russia's Kursk region

Ukraine said Sunday it had struck a second key bridge in the Kursk region, seeking to disrupt Moscow's supply routes as Kiev's unprecedented incursion on Russian soil stretched into its second week.

Russia, meanwhile, ramped up pressure in eastern Ukraine, claiming to have captured another village just a few kilometers from the Ukrainian-held logistics hub of Pokrovsk.

"Minus one more bridge," Ukrainian Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk said on Telegram, publishing an aerial video of a blast tearing through a bridge near the Russian town of Zvannoye.

"The Air Force aviation continues to deprive the enemy of logistical capabilities with precision airstrikes," he said.

It was unclear when Ukraine carried out the attack. Oleshchuk did not provide a date, and Russian military bloggers shared photos of destruction from what appeared to be the same bridge, dated Saturday.

Kiev sent troops and armored vehicles across the border on August 6, marking its biggest attack on Russian territory since the Kremlin launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

On Friday, Ukraine announced it had destroyed a separate bridge in the neighboring town of Glushkovo.

"Our guys are doing a great job in all areas," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said of the Kursk region operations in his evening address on Sunday.

The Kursk offensive, he added, was aimed at "creating a buffer zone on the aggressor's territory," confirming recent comments by senior Ukrainian officials.

But he repeated his appeal for faster delivery of key equipment, addressing Britain, France, and the United States in particular.

• Advancing to Pokrovsk 

The attacks on both bridges, which lie on the Seym River that winds through Kursk, have left Russia with limited options to cross the river in the area, according to Russian military bloggers.

Moscow said the destruction of one of the bridges had hindered evacuation efforts.

The Russian defense ministry said in a briefing it was pushing back against Ukraine's forces near several villages.

More than 120,000 people have fled the region since fighting began, according to Russian officials.

Russia's defense ministry said Sunday its forces had captured Svyrydonivka, another frontline settlement about 15 kilometers (nine miles) away from Pokrovsk.

Pokrovsk lies at the intersection of a key road that supplies Ukrainian troops and towns across the eastern front and has long been a target for the Russian army.

Russian forces have been inching toward Pokrovsk for months, taking a string of tiny villages as they seek to reach the outskirts of the city.

"There have been dozens of attacks in just one day," said Zelensky in his evening address. "But our units, our brigades, are doing everything they can to maintain their positions."

The head of Pokrovsk's military administration, Sergiy Dobryak, warned earlier this week that Russia was a little more than 10 kilometers from the outskirts of the city and urged remaining residents to evacuate.

Earlier Sunday, Ukrainian forces said they had thwarted a Russian missile attack on the capital Kiev, where air raid sirens sounded before dawn.

No damage or casualties were reported from the attack, which the administration said likely involved "North Korean ballistic missiles of the KN-23 type."

• 'Falling debris' 

Ukrainian drones attacked an oil storage facility in Russia's southern Rostov region early Sunday morning, sparking a large fire, the local governor said.

Videos published on social media showed thick black smoke and bursts of flames coming from the site of the blaze, which the governor said was in the town of Proletarsk.

"In the southeast of the Rostov region, air defenses repelled a drone attack. As a result of falling debris on the territory of industrial storage facilities in Proletarsk, a diesel fuel fire broke out," Governor Vasily Golubev said on Telegram.

"At 05:35 (0235 GMT), firefighting at the industrial facility in Proletarsk was suspended due to a second drone attack," he added in an update to the post.

No one was injured, and firefighting efforts resumed shortly after, he posted later.

A source in Ukraine's intelligence services said the installations were part of Russia's "military-industrial complex."

Proletarsk is about 250 kilometers from the Ukraine border and approximately 350 kilometers from Kiev-held areas of fighting on the eastern Ukrainian front line.

Kiev has repeatedly targeted oil and gas facilities in Russia since the conflict began, some hundreds of kilometers from its borders, which it calls "fair" retaliation for attacks on its energy infrastructure.

Earlier this month, Zelensky praised his forces for hitting oil facilities in Russia, saying the attacks would help bring a "just end" to the conflict.

Elsewhere, Ukrainian authorities in the Donetsk region said four civilians were killed and as many injured by Russian airstrikes.

And further south, in Ukrainian-controlled parts of Kherson, a drone attack on a car injured five people, local investigators said on Telegram.