Ukraine’s invasion destroys an important Russian bridgehead in the Kursk region

Ukraine has destroyed a key bridge over the Seym River, as it continues to enter the Russian territory of Kursk.

Russian officials have been quoted as saying that the operation near the town of Glushkovo has cut off part of the local region.

The bridge was used by the Kremlin to supply its troops and its destruction could hamper their efforts.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Ukrainian army was strengthening its positions in Kursk, and called those captured areas a “swap fund”, meaning they could be transferred to Ukrainian regions controlled by Moscow.

Now in its second week, this is Ukraine’s deepest incursion into Russia since Moscow launched its full-scale offensive more than two years ago.

Ukraine’s surprise operation on the border has led to more than 120,000 people fleeing to safety.

But amid Ukraine’s territorial claims, Kyiv has repeatedly insisted it does not want to annex Russia.

“Ukraine is not interested in taking over Russian territories,” said a senior aide to Ukrainian President Zelensky on Friday.

Mykhailo Podolyak said that one of the main goals they wanted in their entry into Russia was to make Moscow negotiate “on our own”.

“In the Kursk region, we can clearly see how the military tool is properly used to persuade Russia to enter a fair negotiation process,” he wrote in X, adding that Kyiv has proven “effective methods of coercion”.

The head of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, said on Friday that the attack had progressed.

“Soldiers of the offensive group continue to fight and advance in some areas from one to three kilometers to the enemy,” President Zelensky told in a video posted on social media.

Syrsky said he hoped to take “many prisoners” in the battle in the village of Mala Loknya, about 13 kilometers from the border.

As Ukraine continues, officials in Russia’s Belgorod region on the Ukrainian border said they would evacuate five villages starting Monday.

“Since August 19, we are closing access to five areas, evacuating residents and helping them evacuate their belongings,” Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on the Telegram social messaging app, naming small towns near the border.

However, as Ukraine advances on Russia’s western territory, Russian forces are gaining ground in eastern Ukraine.

On Friday, Moscow said its forces had captured Serhiivka, the latest in a string of towns claimed by Russian forces in recent weeks.

Recent developments are bringing the Russians closer to the city of Pokrovsk, an important transportation hub that sits on the main road that supplies the Ukrainian military to the east.

Pokrovsk is in the northwest of the Russian-held Donetsk region, which has been bombarded by Ukrainian fire since Friday morning, leaving many civilians injured.

A message from the head of the city’s administration, Sergiy Dobryak, on Thursday, urged people to get out as Russia is “fast approaching the brink”.

Earlier, officials stationed in Russia in the Moscow-controlled region of Ukraine’s Donetsk region blamed Kyiv for the mall strike that injured at least seven.

According to the Russian-backed governor of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, Denis Pushilin, the city has been under bombardment since midday on Friday.

Reuters news agency reported that in the past 24 hours, three people were killed and five injured, citing the head of the Donetsk region.

In Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, missiles aimed at a bridge built under the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin were shot down overnight, the Ministry of Defense said on Telegram.

Kyiv has launched several attacks and attempted an attack on the Kerch bridge since Moscow launched a military offensive.