KYIV: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Saturday his forces were “strengthening” their positions in Russia’s Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting a major ground offensive for more than 11 days.

His comments came a day after Moscow accused Ukraine of destroying a key bridge over a river in the border region, as Kyiv seeks to disrupt supply routes and the movement of Moscow’s troops in the area.

Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrsky “reported on the strengthening of the positions of our forces in the Kursk region and the expansion of stabilised territory”, Zelensky said in a post on Telegram. “As of this morning, we have replenished the exchange fund for our country,” Zelensky said, referring to Russian soldiers Ukraine has captured to be used in future prisoner swaps.

“I thank all the soldiers and commanders who are taking Russian soldiers prisoner and thus bringing the release of our soldiers and civilians held by Russia closer,” Zelensky said. Kyiv claims to have taken control of more than 80 settlements in the lightning incursion, which caught the Kremlin off guard almost two and a half years into its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Moscow says Kyiv used Western rockets to destroy bridge in Kursk region

The Russian defence ministry said it had pushed back Ukrainian forces near three settlements in the Kursk region, and was searching for “mobile enemy groups” trying to pierce deeper into the country.

Zelensky said there had been “dozens of Russian assaults” on Ukrainian positions near the towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, where Moscow has made a string of advances in recent weeks. “Our soldiers and units are doing everything to destroy the occupier and repel the attacks,” he said, stressing the situation was “under control”.

Moscow said its forces had captured another village near Pokrovsk, a Ukrainian-held logistics hub that lies on a road supplying troops and towns across the eastern front.

Bridge destroyed

Russian officials accused Ukraine of striking a strategically important bridge just a couple dozen kilometres away from fighting in the Kursk region. The region’s governor, Alexei Smirnov, said evening the bridge was in the Glushkovsky district, some 11 kilometres away from the border.

Russia’s foreign ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets, likely US-made Himars, to destroy the bridge, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians. The US Himars rockets provided to Ukraine have a range of up to about 80km.

An aerial video published by Ukrainian air force commander Mykola Oleshchuk appeared to show the bridge being hit by a projectile at high speed before collapsing in a cloud of smoke.

“Ukrainian pilots are conducting precision strikes on enemy strongholds, equipment concentrations, as well as on enemy logistics centres and supply routes,” he said on Telegram.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said the bridge was “completely destroyed” and that “volunteers providing assistance to the evacuated civilian population were killed”. “All those responsible for these inhumane acts will be severely punished,” she said.

Russia separately accused Ukraine of dropping an explosive charge on a road near the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine. The plant, which was seized by Russia’s forces early in the war, has come under repeated attacks that both sides have accused each other of carrying out.

Italian Journalist

Russia opened a criminal probe on Saturday into two Italian journalists who reported on Ukraine’s offensive in the Kursk region, accusing them of crossing the border illegally.

Italian public broadcaster RAI aired a report on Wednesday showing the journalists drive into the region accompanied by Ukrainian military. Kyiv has been carrying out a major cross-border ground assault in the Kursk region since August 6.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2024