View of a damaged bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district after a Ukrainian attack in Russia’s Kursk region, in this still image taken from a social media video released on August 16, 2024. | Photo credit: Reuters
Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets, possibly made in the United States. HimarsTo destroy the bridge over the Seym river Kursk regionVolunteers attempting to evacuate civilians were killed.
“For the first time, the Kursk region was attacked from Western-made rocket launchers, presumably the American HIMARS,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app on Friday (August 16, 2024).
“As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers helping evacuated civilians were killed.”
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Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Sirsky said on Friday that Kiev’s forces were advancing by 1 to 3 km in some areas of the Kursk region, 11 days after the Russian incursion began.
Kiev has claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements covering 1,150 square kilometres in the region since August 6.
Reuters Battlefield details from either side could not be independently verified.
Russia has accused the West of Support and encouragement He condemned Ukraine’s first ground attack on Russian territory and said Kiev’s “terrorist aggression” would not change the course of the war.
The United States, which has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win a war he launched in February 2022, so far regards the surprise invasion as a defensive move that justifies the use of American weapons, officials in Washington said.
Russia continued its assault on Ukraine on Saturday, as Ukrainian troops advanced into Russia’s Kursk border region.
Ukraine’s State Emergency Service said a Russian missile caused a fire in the city of Sumy, injuring two people and damaging cars and nearby buildings. It said the attack was carried out using an Iskander-K cruise missile and aerial bombs.
Ukraine’s air force also said it shot down 14 Russian drones overnight, including over the Kiev region.
Meanwhile, fighting continued in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 6 to divert the Kremlin’s military attention from Ukraine’s front lines.