Joe McConnell
Ukraine has destroyed a strategically important bridge over the Seym River as it continues its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region.
According to Russian officials, the operation near the town of Glushkovo has isolated part of the local district.
The bridge was used by the Kremlin to supply its troops and its destruction could hinder their efforts.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukrainian troops were strengthening their positions in Kursk and called the captured territories a bargaining chip, suggesting they could be exchanged for Ukrainian regions occupied by Moscow.
Now in its second week, this is Ukraine’s deepest incursion into Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale invasion more than two years ago.
Ukraine’s unexpected cross-border operation has forced more than 120,000 people to flee for safety.
But despite Ukrainian claims to territorial gains, Kiev has repeatedly maintained that it does not want to occupy Russia.
“Ukraine is not interested in occupying Russian territories,” a senior aide to Ukrainian President Zelensky said on Friday.
Mykhailo Podolyak said that one of the main goals of their foray into Russia was to persuade Moscow to negotiate “on our terms.”
“In the Kursk region, we can clearly see how the military instrument is objectively used to persuade Russia to enter into a fair negotiation process,” he wrote in X, adding that Kiev had proven to be “an effective means of coercion.”
Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on Friday that the offensive had made further progress.
“The troops of the offensive group continue to fight and in some areas have advanced one to three kilometers towards the enemy,” he told President Zelensky in a video posted on social media.
Syrsky said he hoped to take “a lot of prisoners” in a battle in the village of Mala Loknya, about 13 km (8 miles) from the border.
As Ukraine’s advance continues, officials in Russia’s Belgorod region, bordering Ukraine, said they would evacuate five villages starting Monday.
“From August 19, we will close access to five settlements, expelling residents and helping them move their property,” Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on the social messaging app Telegram, citing small villages near the border.
However, as Ukraine advances further into western Russian territory, Russian forces are also gaining ground in eastern Ukraine.
Moscow said on Friday that its troops had captured Serhiivka, the latest in a series of towns claimed by Russian troops in recent weeks.
The latest advances bring the Russians closer to the town of Pokrovsk, a major logistics hub located on a major supply route to Ukrainian troops along the Eastern Front.
Pokrovsk is located northwest of the Russian-controlled Donetsk region, which has been under Ukrainian fire since Friday morning, resulting in several civilian injuries.
In a message on Thursday, the head of the city’s military administration, Sergiy Dobryak, urged people to evacuate as Russia was “rapidly approaching the outskirts.”
Earlier, Russian-installed officials in the Moscow-controlled part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region accused Kiev of attacking a shopping mall, injuring at least seven people.
According to the governor of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, who is backed by Russia, the city has been under shelling since midday on Friday.
Reuters news agency reported that three civilians were killed and five others were wounded in the past 24 hours, citing the regional official in Donetsk.
In Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014, missiles aimed at a bridge built on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin were shot down overnight, the Defense Ministry said on Telegram.
Since Moscow began its military offensive, Kiev has launched numerous attacks and attempted attacks on the Kerch Bridge.
