Kyiv has destroyed a key bridge over the Seym river during its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, as Vladimir Putin was forced to redeploy more troops to respond.
Videos shared on social media showed the bridge near Glushkovo collapsing, cutting off part of the local district and an important route used by Russia to send critical supplies for its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces have now advanced up to 15 miles into Russia’s Kursk region, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.
Russia’s defensive lines in Kursk were “not prepared to respond to a multi-battalion assault force,” according to the MoD.
Using British tanks, Ukraine has taken hundreds of square miles of Russia’s Kursk region since launching their audacious incursion on 6 August.
In a bid to slow down the attack, Russia is believed to have transferred “several thousand” troops from the frontline in northeast Ukraine, according to US officials.
“Russia is unlikely to pull entire fighting units from eastern Ukraine but could redirect troops that were meant to reinforce the front lines in Donetsk,” the Institute for the Study of War wrote.
Key Points
- Ukraine's counter invasion destroys key bridge in Russia
- Russia claims Western rockets destroyed key bridge
- Videos of Ukraine's Russia incursion reveal secrets of surprise attacks in modern warfare
- Ukraine claim to capture 102 Russian soldiers in Kursk attack
Ukraine's counter invasion destroys key bridge in Russia
06:32
Athena Stavrou
Ukraine’s troops invading Russian border villages have destroyed a key bridge over the Seym river used by the Kremlin to send its troops critical supplies.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said Ukraine’s incursion and capture of land in Russia’s Kursk region could eventually lead to a swap deal for Ukrainian regions occupied by Moscow.
The latest attack on the bridge near the Russian town of Glushkovo has cut off part of the local district, according to reports.
Mykhailo Podolyak, a key Zelensky adviser, said the counter incursion’s main aim was to get Moscow back on the negotiation table.
“In the Kursk region, we can clearly see how the military tool is being used objectively to persuade Russia to enter a fair negotiation process,” he posted on X.
Ukraine dismisses Moscow's claims of Kyiv planning 'dirty bomb' attacks in Russia
08:00
Vishwam Sankaran
Ukraine’s foreign ministry rubbished Moscow’s claims about Kyiv planning an attack on Russian nuclear power plants with “dirty bombs.”
Several state-controlled Russian media claimed Ukrainian troops were planning to attack the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant (KNPP) in Russia.
Kyiv’s foreign ministry spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi called the claims “a surge of insane Russian propaganda.”
“Ukraine has neither the intention nor the ability to carry out any such actions. Russia must stop spreading dangerous lies,” Mr Tykhyi said.
He said Ukraine is a committed member of the nuclear non-proliferation treaty and does not have any “dirty bombs.”
“Their scenario of accusing us of terrorism and the attack on the Kursk Nuclear Power Plant did not work. Now they are lying,” Andrii Kovalenko, the head of the counter-disinformation department at Ukraine’s national security and defence council wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine's Russia incursion will provide negotiation leverage, Zelensky adviser says
07:30
Vishwam Sankaran
Ukraine’s ongoing counter-offensive incursion into villages at the Russian border will help bring Moscow to the negotiation table, Mykhailo Podolyak, a top Ukrainian presidential adviser said on X.
“In the Kursk region, we can clearly see how the military tool is being used objectively to persuade Russia to enter a fair negotiation process,” he said, adding that Moscow would face “significant tactical defeats” from Ukraine’s incursion.
The move would also influence public opinion within Russia, the presidential advisor believes.
“An important tool is also the influence on public opinion within Russia, which is beginning to change when the war has come deep into their territory,” Mr Podolyak said.
“Negative changes in the psychological state of the Russian population will be another argument for the start of negotiations,” he said.
Kremlin says Western rockets destroyed key bridge in Russia
07:30
Athena Stavrou
Russia’s foreign ministry said Ukraine had used Western rockets - likely US-made HIMARS - to destroy a key bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region.
“For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American HIMARS,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian foreign ministry, said late on Friday on the Telegram messaging app.
“As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian population were killed.”
Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that Kyiv’s forces were advancing between 1 and 3 kilometre in some areas in the Kursk region, 11 days since beginning an incursion into Russia.
Kyiv has claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres in the region since Aug 6.
Reuters could not independently verify either side’s battlefield accounts.
Russia has accused the West of supporting and encouraging Ukraine‘s first ground offensive on Russian territory and said Kyiv’s “terrorist invasion” would not change the course of the war.
The United States, which has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war he launched in February 2022, so far deems the surprise incursion a protective move that justifies the use of U.S. weaponry, officials in Washington said.
Disarray in Putin’s military command exposed by Ukraine’s attack in Russia, says Zelensky’s chief adviser
07:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine's offensive into Russia in photos
06:30
Vishwam Sankaran
Here are some of the latest photos from the Ukrainian border with Russia
06:00
Tom Watling
Russia expanding shadow fleet to evade Western oil sanctions – report
05:30
Vishwam Sankaran
Russia is increasing the number of its secret fleet of oil ships to evade Western sanctions, according to a Ukrainian think tank.
Moscow has added 74 new oil ships to its existing fleet since the beginning of this year from about 300 under-the-radar ships operating since the beginning of 2023, according to The KSE Institute, a think tank within the Kyiv School of Economics.
Scientists are using artificial intelligence to detect such dark ships from satellite imagery.
“To put additional pressure on Russia’s ability to finance its war of aggression against Ukraine, we urge coalition governments to designate additional shadow fleet vessels,” the think tank said.
“Their removal would represent significant sunk costs while forcing Russia to rely more heavily on mainstream fleet ankers, which fall under the price cap,” it added.
Revealed: Ukraine’s plan to force Putin to retreat in shame
05:00
Tom Watling
Videos of Ukraine's Russia incursion reveal secrets of surprise attacks in modern warfare
04:41
Vishwam Sankaran
A video circulated on social media from official and unofficial accounts shows about 100 Russian soldiers being taken prisoner in Kursk as Ukraine’s forces push deeper into Russia with surprise and secret attacks.
Footage shows Ukrainian troops raising flags over border villages and their military vehicles rolling down Russian streets.
Videos reveal that the buildup of troops and equipment in Russia caught the Kremlin off guard as tight-lipped Russian officials attempted to conceal the extent of their failure.
Russia’s defence ministry said about 300 Ukrainian soldiers along with nearly a dozen tanks and armoured vehicles were attacking two villages close to Kursk.
Britain keeps poking the Russian Bear – don’t be surprised if it lashes out
04:00
Tom Watling
Head of Nobel-winning rights group says Russia sliding back toward Stalinist times under Putin
03:00
Tom Watling
Putin’s greatest fear is coming true – and he’s panicking
02:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine plans ‘buffer zone’ inside Russia’s Kursk region, says Kyiv colonel
01:00
Tom Watling
Zelensky confirms more weapons for Ukraine as Kyiv strikes Putin’s airfields
Saturday 17 August 2024 00:00
Tom Watling
Military expert: Kyiv aiming to maximise Kursk offensive while Russia does same in Ukraine’s east
Friday 16 August 2024 23:06
Jabed Ahmed
Analysts have said that distracting Russian forces from the east was one of the aims of Ukraine‘s Kursk operation. But so far there was no indication of letup in the east.
Russian forces were 10 kilometres from the outskirts of Pokrovsk and about 6 kilometres from nearby Myrnohrad, according to local officials.
“If the objective was to divert the Russian effort from the Donbas, it’s failed so far,” said Yohann Michel, a French military expert and research fellow at the IESD Institute in Lyon, France.
He said Kyiv was aiming to maximise the effect of the Kursk offensive while Russia was trying to do the same in Ukraine‘s east.
“It’s probably the first one who will blink who will have to stop his own offensive,” he said.
Zelenskiy said Ukraine was “not for a second” forgetting about the east and promised fresh weapons deliveries - over what was planned - to strengthen the positions.
Ukraine’s next president? Vitali Klitschko film explores boxer’s journey into politics and war
Friday 16 August 2024 23:00
Tom Watling
Satellite photos show how Ukraine’s gamble on an incursion deep into Russia changed the battlefield
Friday 16 August 2024 22:00
Tom Watling
Kremlin accuses the West of helping Ukraine attack Russia
Friday 16 August 2024 21:38
Jabed Ahmed
An influential aide to Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that the West and the US-led NATO alliance had helped to plan Ukraine's surprise attack on Russia's Kursk region, something Washington has denied.
The lightning incursion, the biggest into Russia by a foreign power since World War Two, began on 6 August when thousands of Ukrainian troops crossed Russia's western border in a major embarrassment for Putin's military.
Ukraine said the incursion was needed to force Russia, which sent its forces into Ukraine in February 2022, to start "fair" peace talks.
But the United States and Western powers, eager to avoid direct military confrontation with Russia, said Ukraine had not given advance notice and that Washington was not involved, though weaponry provided by Britain and the U.S. is reported to have been used on Russian soil.
Influential veteran Kremlin hawk Nikolai Patrushev dismissed the Western assertions in an interview with the Izvestia newspaper.
"The operation in the Kursk region was also planned with the participation of NATO and Western special services," he was quoted as saying, without offering evidence.
"Without their participation and direct support, Kyiv would not have ventured into Russian territory."
The remarks implied that Ukraine's first acknowledged foray into sovereign Russian territory carried a high risk of escalation.
Facts about Russian town of Sudza claimed by Ukraine as part of its incursion
Friday 16 August 2024 21:00
Tom Watling
Russia summons Italian ambassador over journalists reporting from Kursk
Friday 16 August 2024 20:29
Jabed Ahmed
Russia's Foreign Ministry has said it had summoned Italy's ambassador in Moscow over what it said was "illegal border crossing" by a team of correspondents from Italian state broadcaster RAI, who reported from Ukrainian-held parts of Russia's Kursk region this week.
In a statement published on its website, the foreign ministry said: “A strong protest was expressed to the Ambassador in connection with the actions of the film crew of Italian state television and radio company RAI, which illegally entered the territory of the Russian Federation.”
RAI on Wednesday aired the first foreign media report from the Russian town of Sudzha, which was taken in the opening stages of Ukraine‘s offensive against Russia last week.
The Italian crew appeared to be working under Ukrainian military escort, and broadcast footage of the war-damaged town.
Earlier on Friday, Baza, a Telegram channel close to Russian law enforcement, reported that the country’s interior ministry was planning to open criminal cases against two RAI journalists for illegally crossing the Russian border.
Revealed: Ukraine’s plan to force Putin to retreat in shame
Friday 16 August 2024 20:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine's army chief: forces advance 1-3 km in Russia's Kursk region
Friday 16 August 2024 19:24
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine‘s army chief Oleksandr Syrskyi has said that Kyiv’s forces were advancing between one and three kilometres in some areas in Russia’s Kursk region.
Ukraine has said it has taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres (444 square miles) in the region after it launched a major cross-border attack on 6 August.
Briefing President Volodymyr Zelenskiy via video link, Syrskyi reported fighting in the area of Malaya Loknya, some 11.5 kilometres from the Ukrainian border.
“In general, the situation is under control, everything is carried out following the plan,” Syrskyi said in a video published by Zelenskiy on Telegram.
He said he hoped the fighting near Malaya Loknya would allow the Kyiv military to capture “many prisoners”.
British tanks used to drive back Putin’s forces during Ukraine’s attack in Russia
Friday 16 August 2024 19:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine destroys bridge in Russia's Kursk region, hindering evacuations, TASS reports
Friday 16 August 2024 18:29
Jabed Ahmed
Ukrainian forces have destroyed a bridge over the Seym River in Russia’s Kursk region, hindering civilian evacuations by land, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported citing local security services.
A mass evacuation is underway in the Glushkov district, home to 20,000 people, following a swift Ukrainian incursion into the region.
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
Friday 16 August 2024 18:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine sends humanitarian aid to occupied part of Russia’s Kursk region, interior minister says
Friday 16 August 2024 17:49
Jabed Ahmed
Ukraine has set up storage facilities in its northern region of Sumy to hold and send humanitarian aid to Russian civilians in the Kyiv-held part of Russia’s western region of Kursk, the interior minister has said.
Ukraine has said it has taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometres (444 square miles) in the region after it launched a major cross-border attack on 6 Aug.
“The citizens abandoned by Russia are mostly elderly people, people with disabilities, and families with children. They need food, water and medicine,” minister Ihor Klymenko said on the Telegram messaging app.
He didn’t specify how many of the storage facilities had been set up, or where they are, but a video posted on the ministry’s Telegram account showed a large inflatable tent and Ukrainian military personnel carrying parcels and packing food.
During a trip to the Sumy region, which borders Russia’s Kursk region, Klymenko said about 150 food parcels had been sent to civilians in the area.
Kyiv officials have said they plan to create evacuation corridors from the Kursk region and to open access to international humanitarian missions.
Russia has called the Ukrainian incursion a “major provocation” and vowed to retaliate with a “worthy response”, more than 2-1/2 years since it launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbour.
Britain keeps poking the Russian Bear – don’t be surprised if it lashes out
Friday 16 August 2024 17:00
Tom Watling
Civilians in Kursk wait for humanitarian aid
Friday 16 August 2024 16:00
Tom Watling
Ukraine advancing up to 15 miles into Russia, says MoD
Friday 16 August 2024 15:30
Tom Watling
Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 16 August 2024.
— Ministry of Defence (@DefenceHQ) August 16, 2024
Find out more about Defence Intelligence's use of language: https://t.co/JgR5kqH67L #StandWithUkraine pic.twitter.com/NXSNDd7ZI7
Vladimir Putin chairs Russia Security Council meeting on Kursk region
Friday 16 August 2024 15:00
Tom Watling
Vladimir Putin has chaired a security council meeting in Moscow to discuss the Ukrainian incursion into the Russian Kursk region.
During the meeting, he said the discussion would focus on "new technical solutions" being employed in the military operation.
Bulidings destroyed in Russia’s Kursk region
Friday 16 August 2024 14:30
Tom Watling
Croatia to reintroduce compulsory military draft as regional tensions soar
Friday 16 August 2024 14:00
Tom Watling
Civilians urged to evacuate Pokrovsk as Russian troops approach
Friday 16 August 2024 13:30
Tom Watling
Military authorities in the eastern Ukrainian town of Pokrovsk have urged civilians to speed up their evacuation because the Russian army is quickly closing in on what has for months been one of Moscow’s key targets.
Authorities said in a Telegram post that Russian troops are “advancing at a fast pace. With every passing day there is less and less time to collect personal belongings and leave for safer regions”.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had warned on Thursday that Pokrovsk and other nearby towns in the Donetsk region were “facing the most intense Russian assaults”.
“Priority supplies - everything that is needed - are being sent there,” Mr Zelensky said on X.
Ukraine's operation in Kursk needed to convince Russia to start fair talks, Kyiv says
Friday 16 August 2024 12:55
Tom Watling
A Ukrainian presidential adviser said on Friday that Kyiv’s cross-border incursion into Russia’s Kursk region was required to convince Moscow to start “fair” peace talks.
Mykhailo Podolyak said Ukraine had no interest in occupying Kursk but it had to force Russia to start talks on Kyiv’s terms.
“We need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia,” Podolyak wrote on Telegram. “In the Kursk region, we clearly see how the military tool is objectively used to convince the Russian Federation to enter into a fair negotiation process.”
Ukraine mounted a cross-border assault on Russia last week and occupied part of the Kursk region.
Senior Ukrainian officials have repeatedly said Ukraine‘s sovereignty and territorial integrity should be fully respected in any peace agreement.
Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 and now controls about 18 per cent of its territory.
The Ukraine incursion has called Putin’s bluff – and rightly damaged his reputation
Friday 16 August 2024 12:15
Tom Watling
Ukraine’s swift push into the Kursk region shocked Russia and exposed its vulnerabilities
Friday 16 August 2024 11:34
Tom Watling
We have some photos from the frontline in east Ukraine
Friday 16 August 2024 11:04
Tom Watling
Facts about Russian town of Sudza claimed by Ukraine as part of its incursion
Friday 16 August 2024 10:45
Tom Watling
Russia relocating ‘several thousand troops’ from occupied Ukraine to Kursk
Friday 16 August 2024 10:25
Tom Watling
Russia appears to be moving “several thousands troops” from the northeast Ukrainian region to Kursk to try to stabilise Kyiv’s surprise attack.
Multiple US officials told US outlet CNN that they have observed multiple brigade-sized elements made up of at least 1,000 troops being shifted to defend the Kursk incursion.
“It is apparent to us that Putin and the Russian military are diverting some resources, some units, towards the Kursk region to ostensibly counter what the Ukrainians are doing,” US national security council spokesperson John Kirby said.
Ukraine plans ‘buffer zone’ inside Russia’s Kursk region, says Kyiv colonel
Friday 16 August 2024 09:56
Tom Watling
Kyiv spotlight searches for Russian drones - picture
Friday 16 August 2024 09:24
Tom Watling
Ukraine’s next president? Vitali Klitschko film explores boxer’s journey into politics and war
Friday 16 August 2024 08:49
Tom Watling
Ukraine claim to capture 102 Russian soldiers in Kursk attack
Friday 16 August 2024 08:30
Tom Watling
A source in the Security Service of Ukraine has told reporters that special forces have captured a group of more than 100 Russian soldiers.
The 102 servicemen of Russia’s 488th Guards Motorised Rifle Regiment and its “Akhmat” unit are the largest group of soldiers to be captured in one go since Russia launched its invasion in 2022.
“They captured and cleared a sprawling, concrete and well-fortified company stronghold from all sides – with underground communications and personnel accommodation, a canteen, an armoury and even a bathhouse,” the source said.
Mapped: Ukraine’s incursion into the Russian Kursk region explained
Friday 16 August 2024 08:15
Tom Watling
Ukraine downs all Russia-launched drones during overnight attack, air force says
Friday 16 August 2024 07:55
Tom Watling
Ukraine shot down all five Russia-launched drones during an overnight attack, the country’s air force has said.
Russian forces also used three ballistic Iskander-M missiles during the attack, according to the air force’s statement on the Telegram messaging app.
Russia used three Shahed-type drones and two drones of an identified type for the attack, it said.
Reuters previously reported that Russia turned to using cheaply-made drones in some of its attacks on Ukraine to try to identify air defences and act as decoys.
The governors of Kyiv and Kirovohrad regions reported no damage or casualties following the attack.
Here are some of the latest photos from Ukraine
Friday 16 August 2024 07:46
Tom Watling
Below we have some of the latest photos from Ukraine in its northeast region of Sumy, which is being used as a staging post for the incursion into Russia.
Revealed: Ukraine’s plan to force Putin to retreat in shame
Friday 16 August 2024 07:24
Tom Watling
As Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk enters its 11th day, below we point you towards an interview The Independent did earlier this week with president Volodymyr Zelensky’s top advisor on the ultimate objectives of the assault.
Mykhailo Podolyak described the incursion as a “military tool of coercion to force Russia into the negotiation process”.
Why can’t Ukraine use Britain’s power Storm Shadow missiles in incursion
Friday 16 August 2024 06:30
Alex Ross
It has emerged that British Challenger 2 tanks are being used in Ukraine’s surprise incursion into Russia.
The Ukraine’s have permission from the Ministry of Defence to use UK weapons on Russian soil as part of Kyiv’s self-defence.
The only exception is Britain’s powerful Storm Shadow missiles, which remain off limits beyond Ukraine’s borders.
Former defence secretary Sir Ben Wallace said it would be difficult for Britain to authorise without sign-off from other allies.
“The use of Storm Shadows is not entirely independent from other nations’ capabilities,” he said. “With missiles, all missiles, you have to use data, GPS, intelligence, targeting etc. That means that sometimes the use of missiles like Storm Shadows is more collaborative than Ukraine being able to unilaterally use them.”
He added: “You might want to say to Ukraine, ‘Yeah, you can use them,’ but if country B says they cannot use their equipment, then you can’t use them,” he added.
Kyiv takes full control of Russian town of Sudzha, says Zelensky
Friday 16 August 2024 06:23
Arpan Rai
Ukrainian troops have taken full control of Sudzha, the largest Russian town to fall to Ukraine‘s forces since the start of their cross-border incursion more than a week ago, Volodymyr Zelensky announced yesterday.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine was setting up a military command office in Sudzha, which suggests that Ukraine might plan to remain in the Kursk region long-term – or just signal Moscow that it may intend to do so. He didn’t elaborate on what functions the office might handle, though he said earlier this week that Ukraine would be distributing humanitarian aid to Sudzha residents.
Although it had a prewar population of only around 5,000 people, Sudzha is the administrative centre for the border area of Russia’s Kursk region and is larger than any of the other towns or settlements that Ukraine says it
