Russia says Ukraine used Western missiles to destroy bridge in Kursk region

(Patria) - The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Ukraine used Western missiles, likely US-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Sejm River in the Kursk region, killing volunteers who were trying to evacuate civilians, Reuters reported.

"For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, likely
US HIMARS," said Maria Zakharova, spokesperson for the Russian Foreign Ministry,
late on Friday on Telegram.

"As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Sejm River in the Gluškovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were helping the evacuated civilian population were killed."

The head of the Ukrainian army, Oleksandr Syrsky, said on Friday that his forces were advancing between one and three kilometers in some areas of the Kursk region, eleven days after the start of the incursion into Russia.

Kyiv claimed to have taken control of 82 settlements over an area of 1,150 square kilometers in the region since August 6.

Russia accused the West of supporting and encouraging Ukraine's first ground offensive on Russian territory and said Kyiv's "terrorist invasion" would not change the course of the war.

The United States, which has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war he launched in February 2022, currently considers the sudden incursion a protective move that justifies the use of American weapons, officials in Washington said.