Russia-Ukraine war latest: Kyiv destroys key bridge as troops leave ‘trail of destruction’ in Russia incursion

Kyiv has destroyed a key bridge over the Seym river during its incursion into Russia’s Kursk region, as Vladimir Putin was forced to redeploy more troops to respond.

Videos shared on social media showed the bridge near Glushkovo collapsing, cutting off part of the local district and an important route used by Russia to send critical supplies for its invasion of Ukraine.

Ukrainian forces have now advanced up to 15 miles into Russia’s Kursk region, the UK’s Ministry of Defence (MoD) said.

Russia’s defensive lines in Kursk were “not prepared to respond to a multi-battalion assault force,” according to the MoD. Ukrainian troops have left a “trail of destruction” in their wake, according to journalists who ventured into occupied Russia on Friday.

Artillery fire has blown chunks out of a statue of Soviet founder Vladimir Lenin that stands in the town of Sudzha, which is now occupied by Ukrainian forces. Buildings were pockmarked with bullet holes and the streets, which were strewn with debris, were mainly empty as residents retreated to basements.

Using British tanks, Ukraine has taken hundreds of square miles of Russia’s Kursk region since launching their audacious incursion on 6 August.

Ukraine is “not interested in occupying Russian territories”, according to president Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak.

In a post to the social media platform X, he wrote that Ukraine’s advance into Russia would strengthen their hand at any potential negotiations between the two countries.

He explained: “We have absolutely no plans to beg: ‘Please, sit down to negotiate’. Instead, we have proven, effective means of coercion… We need to inflict significant tactical defeats on Russia.”

He also said that the incursion was an “important