(SUMY REGION, Ukraine) — Ukraine has reportedly destroyed a third and last key bridge in an area of Russia’s Kursk region, according to Russian military bloggers, inflicting a potentially significant blow on Moscow’s struggling efforts to push back Ukraine’s incursion there.
Ukraine and Russia have not officially confirmed the bridge has been destroyed.
The destruction of the third bridge over the Seym river at Karyzh would mean Russian troops on a broad stretch of the border beyond the river would now largely cut off, according to military analysts tracking the conflict.
Russian troops would be unable to receive significant re-supply or reinforcements, as Ukrainian troops move from the east, increasingly encircling them.
The reports of the destruction of the third bridge come almost two weeks after Ukrainian troops began a ground incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, marking the largest invasion of Russian territory since World War II. Hundreds of thousands of Russians have been ordered to evacuate the area, according to Russian outlets.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Sunday night hinted more clearly at the operation’s goals, saying in his nightly address that Ukraine sought to create a “buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory.”
Zelenskyy’s reference to a “buffer zone” mirrored President Vladimir Putin’s public justifications for Russia’s own offensive into Ukraine’s Kharkiv region earlier this summer, and indicated Kyiv hopes to hold Russian territory both to shield its own land and perhaps to trade in any future peace negotiations.
Zelenskyy described Ukraine’s “primary task” in its defensive operations was “to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions.”
The area that has been cut off by the destruction of the bridges is estimated to be several hundred square miles wide and may contain hundreds of Russian troops.
Ukraine methodically took out the two other bridges in the last few days, according to its Air Force.
Russian military bloggers reported that pontoon bridges were now being used to supply their forces in the area, claiming they would be sufficient, something many military analysts doubt.
The targeting of the bridges suggests that after two weeks Ukraine is still continuing to try to broaden its incursion and appears intent on digging in to hold the territory it is seizing. One goal is to potentially trade such Russian territory in any future peace talks.
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