KYIV: Ukraine said Sunday it had struck a second key bridge in the Kursk region, seeking to disrupt Moscow’s supply routes as Kyiv’s unprecedented incursion on Russian soil stretched through its second week.
Russia meanwhile ramped up pressure in east Ukraine, claiming to capture another village just a few kilometres 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 air strikes,” he said.
It was not clear when Ukraine carried out the attack. Oleshchuk did not give a date and Russian military bloggers shared photos of destruction from what appeared to be the same bridge dated Saturday.
Kyiv sent troops and armoured vehicles across the border on August 6, in 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 neighbouring town of Glushkovo, both of which lie on the river Seym that winds through the region.
The attacks on both bridges 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 defence 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 authorities.
Russia said Sunday its forces had captured Svyrydonivka, another frontline settlement some 15 kilometres (nine miles) away from Pokrovsk.
Pokrovsk lies on 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.
“As a result of active operations, units of the Centre grouping of troops have liberated the village of Sviridonovka,” Moscow’s defence ministry said, using the Russian name for the village.
Russian forces have been inching towards Pokrovsk for months, taking a string of tiny villages as they seek to reach the outskirts of the city.
The head of Pokrovsk’s military administration, Sergiy Dobryak, warned earlier this week that Russia was a little over 10 kilometres from the outskirts of the city and urged remaining residents to evacuate.
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