Ukrainian president says push into Russian Kursk region is to create buffer zone

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the military incursion into Russia’s Kursk region aims to create a buffer zone to prevent further attacks by Moscow across the border.

It was the first time Mr Zelensky clearly stated the aim of the operation that began on August 6. Previously, he had said the operation aimed to protect communities in the bordering Sumy region from constant shelling.

Mr Zelensky said “it is now our primary task in defensive operations overall: to destroy as much Russian war potential as possible and conduct maximum counteroffensive actions. This includes creating a buffer zone on the aggressor’s territory – our operation in the Kursk region”.

This weekend, Ukraine destroyed a key bridge in the region and struck a second one nearby, disrupting supply lines as it pressed the incursion, officials said.

Ukraine’s air force chief, Lt Gen Mykola Oleshchuk, on Friday released a video of an airstrike that cut the bridge in two.

Less than two days later, Ukrainian troops hit a second bridge in Russia, according to Mr Oleshchuk and Russian regional Gov Alexei Smirnov.

As of Sunday morning, there were no officials giving the exact location of the second bridge attack. But Russian Telegram channels claimed that a second bridge over the Seim, in the village of Zvannoe, had been struck.

According to Russia’s Mash news site, the attacks left only one intact bridge in the area. The Associated Press could not immediately verify these claims. If confirmed, the Ukrainian strikes would further complicate Moscow’s attempts to replenish its forces and evacuate civilians.

Glushkovo is about 7.5 miles north of the Ukrainian border, and approximately 10 miles north west of the main battle zone in Kursk.

Zvannoe is located another five miles to the north west.

Kyiv previously has said little about the goals of its push into Russia with tanks and other armoured vehicles, the largest attack on the country since the Second World War, which took the Kremlin by surprise and saw scores of villages and hundreds of prisoners fall into Ukrainian hands.

The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions, facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic as tens of thousands of civilians fled.

Ukraine’s commander in chief, Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi, claimed last week that his forces had advanced across 390 square miles of the region, although it was not possible to independently verify what Ukrainian forces effectively control.