Russian Pontoon Bridges Destroyed by Ukraine in Kursk: Videos

Ukrainian forces have reportedly destroyed another Russian pontoon bridge in the Kursk region, according to newly released videos circulating on social media.

Video footage showed a Ukrainian aircraft striking a pontoon bridge over the Seym river, and the Telegram channel Shrike News said Ukrainian forces had destroyed nine out of nine known pontoon crossings.

The strikes, which appeared to use High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), come after Ukrainian forces destroyed at least two of the three bridges across the river Seym and multiple pontoon bridges in separate incidents. The bridges had been used in key supply routes for Russian forces.

Conflict on the front lines in Russia has escalated amid the continued progress of Ukraine's Kursk offensive, a cross-border raid that Kyiv launched 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 saying it has seized more territory in the Kursk region in days than Russia has captured in Ukraine since the beginning of the year.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in August that Ukraine controlled at least 80 settlements in Kursk.

Ukraine has said it does not wish to keep hold of the territory it controls in Kursk, but that it hopes to cut off Russian logistics supporting the war effort elsewhere along the front line and shield its territory from highly destructive aerial attacks.

Kyiv's attacks have largely focused on the town of Sudzha, which Ukraine said it had fully captured last week, and around the settlement of Korenovo, northwest of Sudzha. Glushkovo and Zvannoye sit southwest of Korenovo, closer to the Ukrainian border.

General Christopher Cavoli, who serves as NATO's supreme allied commander Europe, recently spoke about Ukraine's offensive in Kursk and criticized Russia's response.

"Russia is still piecing together its response to Ukraine's invasion. So far, it has only been a rather slow and scattered reaction," he said during an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Russia does not establish who has authority," he continued, adding, "The ministry of defense is responsible for military operations inside Ukraine, but not inside Russia, right?"

Newsweek has contacted Russia's and Ukraine's defense ministries for comment by email.

In the past week, Ukraine has halted Russia's offensive in Pokrovsk and regained control of part of the Ukrainian town of New-York, according to the Institute for the Study of War.

"Over the last six days the enemy hasn't advanced a single meter in the Pokrovsk direction," Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, told CNN on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Russia made strong advances in the Donetsk region in August, gaining 93 square miles, an exponential increase compared to previous average advances this year, as Newsweek previously reported—with previous months maintaining a 21-square-mile advancement.

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