A Russian missile strike ignited a blaze in the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Saturday, as Ukrainian forces continued their advance into Russia’s Kursk border region.
The strike in Sumy left two people injured and caused significant damage to cars and nearby buildings, according to Ukraine’s State Emergency Service. The attack involved an Iskander-K cruise missile and an aerial bomb.
In the air, Ukraine’s defense forces successfully shot down 14 Russian drones overnight, with several intercepted over the Kyiv region. This came amidst a broader Russian assault, as dozens of missiles targeted cities across Ukraine. The attacks resulted in the deaths of at least 31 people and struck a children’s hospital in Kyiv. Explosions echoed through the city, with black smoke billowing from its center.
Meanwhile, in Russia’s Kursk region, the battle raged on. Ukrainian troops, deployed since August 6, aim to shift the Kremlin’s military focus away from the main front lines in Ukraine.
Alexander Kots, a military correspondent for the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, reported that Ukrainian pressure in Kursk remains intense. He noted that while the front has stabilized in key areas, there are still zones where Ukrainian forces are attempting to expand their positions.
On Friday, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova claimed that Ukraine had destroyed a bridge across the Seim River in the Glushkovsky district using U.S.-made HIMARS rockets, marking their first use in the Kursk region. Although her statement couldn’t be independently verified, the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, confirmed that geolocated footage showed the bridge had collapsed after the strike.
Russian military bloggers noted that the destruction of bridges could slow the delivery of supplies to Russian forces, but it wouldn’t cut them off entirely. As Kots pointed out, “No one has canceled the pontoons,” referring to temporary bridge structures, and emphasized that the Seim River is much smaller than Ukraine’s Dnieper River, with other smaller bridges still intact.
While Russia has faced previous incursions on its territory during the war, the scale and speed of the Ukrainian advance into Kursk is unprecedented. This operation has reportedly involved as many as 10,000 Ukrainian troops, including battle-hardened brigades, and has led to the evacuation of over 120,000 civilians from the region.
Yan Furtsev, an activist and member of the local opposition party Yabloko, described the shock and panic among residents. “No one expected this kind of conflict in the Kursk region. The suddenness has left citizens frightened and confused, especially those arriving from the front-line areas.”
As Ukrainian forces advanced, they also captured several Russian soldiers. On Friday, the AP visited a detention center in Ukraine, though its location remains undisclosed for security reasons. Inside, dozens of prisoners of war were seen, some with their hands bound, being led down a corridor. They were provided with rations of thin soup with cabbage and onions.
On Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed gratitude to the Ukrainian soldiers and commanders for capturing Russian military personnel. He emphasized that this would bolster the country’s “exchange fund,” which could be used to negotiate the release of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
“I thank all our soldiers and commanders who are capturing Russian military personnel, thereby advancing the release of our warriors and civilians held by Russia,” Zelenskyy stated in a post on X.