HIMARS Strikes Obliterate Russian Pontoon Bridges on Kursk River

War
Post At: Aug 22/2024 03:50AM

A strike on Russian pontoon bridges over a river in Kursk has resulted in the destruction of key Russian infrastructure.

In new footage of the strikes, pontoon bridges over the River Seym in Kursk can be seen from the perspective of a Ukrainian aircraft, before it fires on Russian infrastructure, destroying the bridges in the process.

The strikes, which appeared to use High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), come after Ukrainian forces destroyed three other bridges across the river Seym, which have been used in key supply routes for Russian forces.

We now know what caused the FIRMS detections.

After the initial FPV strikes on the Russian combat engineers, Ukraine launched several HIMARS attacks on the same engineers building the pontoon bridges. https://t.co/kcBf22oW4m pic.twitter.com/fJ3tBN2kRE

— Oliver Alexander (@OAlexanderDK) August 21, 2024

Ukraine's air force commander, Lieutenant General Mykola Oleshchuk, said Kyiv had destroyed a bridge in Kursk on Monday, helping to "deprive the enemy of logistical capabilities."

A Russian Telegram channel chalked up the attack on the bridge in the Kursk village of Zvannoye to U.S.-supplied HIMARS, or High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems. There "is only one bridge left in the district," the account wrote on Sunday.

Additionally, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that Ukraine "completely destroyed" a separate bridge over the Seym River near the Kursk border village of Glushkovo with "Western-made weapons, probably American HIMARS."

Ukraine has destroyed a key bridge in Russia's Kursk region and struck a second one nearby, less than two weeks into its cross-border incursion, disrupting Russian supply routes and possibly signaling its troops are planning... Ukraine has destroyed a key bridge in Russia's Kursk region and struck a second one nearby, less than two weeks into its cross-border incursion, disrupting Russian supply routes and possibly signaling its troops are planning to dig in. Ukrainian Armed Force via AP

Conflict on the front lines in Russia has escalated due to the continued progress of Ukraine's Kursk offensive, which saw Kyiv launch a cross-border raid on August 6, catching Russian forces by surprise.

The offensive marks the first time that foreign troops have seized Russian territory since World War II, with Ukraine claiming to have seized more territory in the Kursk region in days than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of the year.

In roughly 24 hours, Ukraine's forces overwhelmed two major lines of fortifications in the Kursk region that took Russia over two-and-a-half years and more than $170 million to build, according to Russian investigative site Agentstvo.

Despite transferring reserves to the border region, Moscow has struggled to stop Ukraine's advances and Kyiv says it is consolidating its footprint across the border. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed that Ukraine controlled at least 80 settlements in Kursk.

Ukraine has said that the offensive is designed to to cut off Russian logistics supporting the war effort, and shield its territory from highly destructive aerial attacks, rather than permanently holding Russian territory.

Newsweek has contacted Russia's Defense Ministry for comment by email.

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