Kiev’s Air Force destroys important bridge in Kursk region

For days, Ukrainian troops have been trying to destroy an important bridge in the Russian Kursk region as they advance. Now they are celebrating the hit – and Moscow is furious.

The Ukrainian Air Force says it has destroyed a strategically important road bridge during its offensive in the Kursk region. Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk published a video on an armed forces Telegram channel showing the bombing of a bridge. Experts believe the video is authentic after evaluating the geodata. The structure on the Sejm River in the Glushkovo district lay in ruins.

This means that an important supply route for Russian troops has been destroyed. Russia had also previously reported that the bridge, which had been under fire from Ukrainian forces for days, had been destroyed. According to Russian media, this has cut off more than 30 towns in the border region with Ukraine from the rest of the area.

The Air Force is actively participating in the combat operations of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the Kursk region, Oleshchuk confirmed. “Ukrainian pilots are carrying out precision strikes against enemy strongholds, accumulations of equipment, and enemy logistics centers and supply routes,” the commander said. “Thanks to the pilots and everyone who ensures the fight of the Air Force!”

In its defensive struggle against the Russian war of aggression, which has been going on for almost two and a half years, Ukraine has been conducting an unprecedented ground offensive in the Kursk area since August 6. Kiev says it wants to use this to force Moscow to negotiate an end to the war.

Kursk Governor Alexei Smirnov reported the destruction of the bridge on Friday evening. According to Russian military bloggers on the Telegram channel “Rybar”, the bridge was first fired at with a US-type Himars multiple rocket launcher and then destroyed by a glide bomb. Two volunteers in a car that had been supposed to bring people to safety were killed in an earlier attack with a “Tochka-U” rocket, it was reported.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova criticized Ukraine for using Western weapons to destroy civilian infrastructure in the Kursk region. Those responsible for the “inhuman actions” would be punished.

In the course of the Russian attack on Ukraine, countless bridges, energy infrastructure and thousands of civilian objects were destroyed. The damage and the number of victims on the Russian side are still disproportionate to the massive destruction and thousands of dead and injured in Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the offensive in Kursk is also about a lasting weakening of the enemy army. Russia’s losses are “very useful” for the defense of Ukraine, he said in his evening video address. “It is about destroying the logistics of the Russian army and using up its reserves,” Zelensky explained. “We must inflict maximum damage on all Russian positions, and that is what we are doing.”

The Washington Post also reported on another advance by Ukraine into Russian territory, namely in the direction of the neighboring region of Belgorod. However, Russian units there were already on standby after the events in the Kursk region, and the Ukrainian attack had already become bogged down in the border area. A state of emergency has been in effect in the Kursk and Belgorod regions for days, and they have also been declared zones for anti-terrorist operations. This led to a significant expansion of the military presence in the region.

The German ambassador in Moscow, Alexander Graf Lambsdorff, currently sees no chance of peace negotiations in the Ukraine war. “At the moment, the Russian side is not showing any willingness to negotiate, but is insisting on far-reaching preconditions,” said Lambsdorff, who has been ambassador for about a year, in an interview with the “Bonner General-Anzeiger”.