This photo taken on August 16, 2024 during a media tour organized by Ukraine shows the image of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin in the Russian town of Souza in the Ukrainian-controlled Kursk region during the Russian invasion of Ukraine The statue was damaged. Kiev said on August 16, 2024 that its incursion into Russian territory had progressed as Moscow's army announced new advances in eastern Ukraine, claiming that its aim was to force Russia to negotiate “fair” terms.
Jan Dobronosov | AFP | Getty Images
Russia's Foreign Ministry said Ukraine used Western rockets, possibly US-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Sem River in the Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians.
“For the first time, the Kursk region was attacked by a Western-made rocket launcher, most likely the American HIMARS,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on the Telegram messaging app on Friday evening.
“The bridge over the Sem River in Glushkovo district was attacked, the bridge was completely destroyed, and volunteers assisting in the evacuation of civilians were killed.”
Ukrainian Army Chief of Staff Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that Kiev troops were advancing 1 to 3 kilometers (0.6 to 1.9 miles) in parts of the Kursk region, 11 days since the invasion of Russia began.
Kyiv claims to have controlled 82 settlements within 1,150 square kilometers (440 square miles) of the area since August 6.
Russia accused the West of backing and encouraging Ukraine's first ground offensive on Russian territory and said a “terrorist invasion” in Kiev would not change the course of the war.
Washington officials said the United States has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war he launched in February 2022 and so far views the surprise incursion as a protective move to justify the use of U.S. weapons.
Russia called the incursion a “major provocation” and vowed to retaliate with a “worthy response,” more than 2-1/2 years after it launched a full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Friday that its forces repelled Ukrainian attacks in several areas, including near the villages of Gordeyevka, Porechno and other Russian villages.
Zelensky praised Russia's losses in the Kursk region as “very helpful” to Ukraine's defense.
“This is about the destruction of the Russian army's logistics system and the depletion of reserves,” he said in an evening speech.
On August 14, 2024, Ukrainian soldiers operated tanks on the road near the Russian border in the Sumy region of Ukraine. The largest offensive has been on Russian soil since World War II.
Roman Pilipe | AFP | Getty Images
Kiev Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk added on Telegram that aviation was an active part of the operation, which targeted enemy supply routes and logistics centers. He posted a video of the bridge strike.
Alexei Smirnov, the governor of the Kursk region, said Ukraine destroyed a road bridge over the Sem River in the region's Glushkovsky district.
The target is in the east
Still, the fiercest fighting continues in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces have been slowly advancing toward the strategic center of Pokrovsk for months.
Analysts say that distracting Russian forces in the east is one of the purposes of the Kursk operation in Ukraine. But so far, there are no signs of slowing down in the East.
According to local officials, Russian troops are 10 kilometers from the outskirts of Pokrovsk and about 6 kilometers from nearby Mirnohrad.
“If the goal is to divert Russia's efforts in Donbas, it has failed so far,” said John Michel, a French military expert and researcher at the IESD institute in Lyon, France.
He said Kiev's goal was to maximize the effects of the Kursk offensive, while Russia was trying to do the same in eastern Ukraine.
“It's probably the first person who blinks who has to stop their own offense,” he said.
Zelensky said Ukraine had not forgotten the East “for a second” and promised to deliver new weapons as planned to strengthen its positions.