Ukraine destroys third bridge in major blow to Russia

Ukraine has now destroyed all three permanent bridges over the Seym River in Kursk, in a sign Kyiv intends to hold the territory long-term.

Ukrainian forces have struck three bridges in Russia’s Kursk region in recent days, delivering a blow to Russian efforts to retake the area and suggesting that Kyiv plans to hold the territory for the long-term.

The Ukrainian Air Force Sunday released footage that it said showed a strike on a bridge in southwestern Russia. Open-source analysts and Russian military bloggers said Ukrainian forces now had destroyed all three permanent bridges over the Seym River in the Kursk region.

“Kursk … minus one more bridge!” Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleschuk, commander of Ukraine’s air force, wrote on Telegram.

All three of the bridges were to the west of the territory that Ukraine now holds. Russian forces in that area will now have to rely on pontoon bridges to bring in new supplies, leaving them more vulnerable, if Ukraine intends to claim still more territory in the region.

The river now also provides a natural barrier against Russian attacks from the west.

So far, Ukraine is thought to have about 6,000 troops active in the region, according to Western estimates, as well as 4,000 troops in support roles in the Sumy region, across the border in northern Ukraine.

As a result, Russia would probably need more than 20,000 properly trained personnel to retake the Ukrainian-held territory in the Kursk region, according to a U.S. official.

Since the invasion of Kursk began Aug. 6, Ukrainian officials said, Ukrainian forces have seized more than 400 square miles and 80 settlements in the region.

Kyiv is betting that it can hold the Russian territory long enough to use it as leverage, potentially trading it for Russian-occupied territory inside Ukraine. Currently, Moscow occupies more than 40,000 square miles of Ukrainian territory, about 20% of the country.

Ukraine also has taken more than 2,000 prisoners in the Kursk region, which Kyiv officials say they are hoping to exchange for Ukrainian soldiers in Russian custody.

For much of the full-scale war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said total Russian withdrawal from the country was a precondition for any peace talks. In recent months, however, he has indicated a greater openness to negotiate.

Ukrainian forces destroy a bridge over the Seym River near the town of Glushkovo. Credit: Ukrainian Air Force via Storyful

In June, he gathered more than 50 nations for a peace conference in Switzerland. On Monday, he said to the BBC’s Ukrainian service that he would “try to end the hot stage of the war by the end of this year.” Russian officials say that Ukraine’s invasion of Kursk has made any peace talks more difficult.

“There is nothing to talk about with people who do such things,” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for Russia’s Foreign Ministry, said on Sunday.

Moscow also said that U.S.-made Himars rocket systems were used to strike at least one of the bridges. A U.S. official said Friday that the Biden administration didn’t think Ukraine had moved Himars launchers into Russia but was most likely using them to fire precision-guided rockets from border areas in Ukraine.

At the very least, Ukrainian officials hope that the Russian effort to retake the Kursk region would require it to pull brigades out of eastern Ukraine, where Moscow is continuing to advance.

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