Ukrainian forces have begun targeting Russia’s main transport routes in the Kursk region in a move to block Moscow from resupplying troops as Ukraine looks to create a “buffer zone” between it and Russia.
As the Kyiv offensive enters its second week, reports emerged on Monday indicating that Ukraine has struck for the third time, and may be the last viable bridgehead in Russia’s Kursk region.
According to local news outlet Kyiv Independent, citing comments made Monday by an official from the Russian Investigative Committee, a bridge near the village of Karyzh on the Seim River has been damaged by Ukrainian forces.
The moment the second bridge over the Seym River was attacked by a Ukrainian attack on August 18, 2024. (Photo courtesy of East2West)
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Fox News Digital could not verify the extent of the damage caused to the bridge.
The news comes after several reports over the weekend said two other bridges have been damaged or rendered inoperable in Zvannoye, just over four miles east of Karyzh, as well as Glushkovo, which sits another five miles east along the Seym River – all of which are in the Kursk region.
Ukrainian defense officials have not commented on operations surrounding the bridge attack, although reports say damage to the bridge has halted or hindered Russia’s ability to transport heavy machinery across the river as it appeared to drive Ukrainian forces away.
It is unclear how the bridge attack will affect Russia’s move to redeploy troops to the Kursk region as Ukrainian forces continue to advance.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy inspects bunkers, firing ranges, and anti-tank and armored personnel carrier trenches during a visit to Chernihiv Oblast in Ukraine on April 5, 2024. (Ukraine Presidency / Handout / Anadolu via Getty Images)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksyy has been tight-lipped on the overall goal of the Kursk operation, but some have theorized that it is an attempt to divide Russia’s war efforts and force Moscow to pull troops away from the front line in Ukraine.
Reporting by the Wall Street Journal on Friday said some 5,000 Russian troops have been called in a large part of Ukraine’s Donetsk region to Kursk between August 6-13.
A satellite image shows a collapsed bridge over the Seym River in Glushkovo district, Russia, following an attack by Ukraine, August 17, 2024. (Planet Labs Inc./Handout via Reuters)
Despite President Vladimir Putin’s determination to squash the invasion of Ukraine – which Zelenskyy said was done to make Moscow “feel” the repercussions of its war – Ukrainian forces appear to be still making progress on Russian territory.
“Russian redeployments have allowed Russian forces to slow the rapid gains of Ukraine in Kursk Oblast and begin to contain the extent of the Ukrainian attack, but containment is only the first phase and possibly the most resource-intensive response of Russia in Kursk Oblast,” said the Institute for the Study of War in an assessment Sunday .
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“Although it is still too early to assess when Russian forces will stop Ukraine’s advance in Kursk Oblast completely and seize the battlefield initiative to begin such efforts,” the assessment added. “This upcoming Russian counteroffensive effort will require Russia to send more manpower, equipment, and material to Kursk Oblast.”
The Wall Street Journal cited sources familiar with Kyiv’s Kursk push as saying that about 6,000 Ukrainian troops are now on Russian territory, although it is believed that Moscow will need to provide about 20,000 soldiers to retake the area.
In a speech to the nation Sunday, Zelenskyy said, “Now our main task in the overall defense operation is to destroy Russia’s war potential as much as possible and to carry out maximum counteroffensive actions.”
“This includes creating a buffer zone in the territory of the aggressor – our operation in the Kursk region,” he said.
Ukrainian soldiers hide from an attack near the Russian border in Sumy region, Ukraine, August 13, 2024. (Reuters/Viacheslav Ratynskyi/File Photo)
Despite the war effort at Kursk, Ukraine still expects Russian advances in the Donetsk region, especially around Pokrovsk, where Russian forces continue to push west.
The city is expected to be engulfed in the brutal war that has taken place in Eastern Ukraine in the next two weeks, according to comments made by Donetsk administration official Serhii Dobriak for Radio Free Europe.
And Donetsk Governor Vadym Filashkin reportedly told the Kyiv Independent that the mandatory evacuation of nearly 5,000 children remaining in the city will be issued later this week.
In July, Zelenskyy warned that Russia was “throwing everything it has” into the region after it failed again to take Kharkiv.
A fire at an oil base in Russia’s Proletarsk, Rostov region, after two drone strikes on the morning of August 18, 2024. (Photo provided by East2West)
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Images emerged on Monday that allegedly show multiple explosions on Russia’s Trans-Siberian railway line, – which is used to transport weapons to Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, East2West reported.
Although Fox News Digital could not confirm what caused the explosion, pro-Ukraine forces have carried out similar sabotage attempts on Russian targets since the war began.
Images at the weekend show that Ukrainian forces attacked an oil depot in Rostov Oblast Russia, which is a neighbor of Donetsk – a move that nods to push Ukraine to press the key Russian targets that perpetuate the cross-border effort.
Some have suggested Zelenskyy, who last week said that “Russia must be forced into peace if Putin wants to continue the war,” may be looking to use the incursion into Russia as a bargaining chip to end Moscow’s deadly war.
Although Putin’s aides on Monday said Moscow was unwilling to participate in peace talks “at this stage” after the attack.
