The destruction of the final bridge in the region threatens to obstruct Moscow’s ability to get supplies and reinforcements to its troops in about 700 square kilometres of Russian territory.
Ukraine’s forces have destroyed the final bridge over the Seym river located in the village of Karyzh in Russia’s Kursk region, according to Russian officials.
The bridge is the third one destroyed, after Kyiv damaged the first bridge 16 kilometres northwest of the main battle zone in Kursk in late August, and the second in Zvannoe on Sunday.
The bridge was the last major crossing in the region, and its destruction means that Russian forces will struggle to get supplies and reinforcements into an area of about 700 square kilometres.
Russian units on the southern side of the river will now be dependent on pontoon bridges, which are vulnerable to Ukrainian attacks.
In its latest assessment Washington-based think tank The Institute for the Study of War said that Russian forces have likely redeployed more than 5,000 personnel to Kursk in order to counteract Ukrainian troops, who likely caught Moscow by surprise when they entered the Kursk region in early August.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Sunday that the military incursion into Kursk aimed to create a buffer zone, suggesting it could prevent attacks by Moscow from across the border.
The attack on Russia is the largest on the country since World War II, with Ukraine driving deep into Russian territory in several directions with little resistance.
Ukraine’s Commander in Chief, General Oleksandr Syrskyi, claimed last week that his forces had advanced across 1,000 square kilometres of the region, although it is not possible to independently verify what Ukrainian forces effectively control.
Nataliya Bugayova, a fellow at the Washington-based think tank The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said that Ukraine’s offensive in Kursk, “has the potential to generate momentum for Ukraine.”
The Ukrainian incursion into the Kursk region continues to force Russia to redeploy forces from elsewhere, and future fighting within Russia will require more Russian manpower and materiel commitments to the area, Bugavoa added.
