Ukraine destroys 3rd bridge in daring bid to cut off Russian troops in Kursk as expert says it may be game over for Vlad

3 months ago 2

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UKRAINE has destroyed a third bridge in four days in what could be a daring bid to cut off Russian troops and seize a massive area of land.

Kyiv has taken out the spans crossing the River Seym to the west of its surprise invasion inside Vladimir Putin’s country.

a plane is flying over a body of water with a fire coming out of it .

Footage caught by a drone revealed the massive strike against the first bridge[/caption]

A satellite image shows the collapsed Glushkovo bridge[/caption]

a man stands at a podium in front of a sign that says royal united services institute

Professor Michael Clarke said[/caption]

a group of soldiers are standing in front of a building with the letter m on it

Ukrainian special forces have released footage of them fighting inside Russia[/caption]

an aerial view of a river surrounded by fields and trees

Russia said Ukraine has taken out a third bridge near Karyzh overnight[/caption]

three soldiers are standing in front of a military vehicle

Ukrainian troops near Sumy preparing to cross the border[/caption]

The river is about 15km from the Ukrainian border and Russia currently holds the 550km squared area south of it.

Ukraine hit the bridges at Glushkovo and Zvannoe over the weekend, with Russian blogs saying a third was hit overnight at Karyzh.

Professor Michael Clarke told The Sun destroying the bridges opened up the opportunity for Ukraine to seize the land.

Firstly, it would make it trickier for Russia to reinforce the area south of the Seym and attack the current pocket from the west.

Secondly, cutting Russian supply lines meant it would open the area up for Ukraine to seize.

He said: “Instead of moving northwards, they [troops inside Russia] might move westwards, which keeps their flanks short.

“They will always be able to recover and get back across to their side of the border quite quickly.”

Clarke believes the Russian poorly trained conscripts in the area were in “mortal danger” if Ukraine attacked there.

He said the gamble for Ukraine was whether it would “dilute” its troops elsewhere to take the land.

Its proximity to Ukraine meant it would be easy to reinforce and the Seym would make the area easily defensible.

“They would move up to the Seym River and establish that as a new border for the time being.

“They would challenge the Russians to try and get them out.”

Russia has already built a pontoon bridge east of Glushkovo to keep supplying its forces.

But Clarke said that would create traffic jams of Russian vehicles as only one can cross at a time.

an aerial view of a river surrounded by trees and grass

Russia has already built a pontoon bridge crossing the river[/caption]

Zelensky said last night that Ukraine was trying to create a ‘buffer zone’ with the attack[/caption]

That would leave a “huge target” for Ukrainian missiles and drones.

“Any concentration of vehicles anywhere near a warzone is a very tempting and easy target.”

The area of land south of the River Seym is about half of what Russia has taken inside Ukraine over the last year.

Dr Phil O’Brien said Ukraine was attempting to set up a salient – an area where Ukrainian troops would surround Russia’s on multiple sides.

Attacking the bridges would protect the flank of the salient and create the opportunity to go on and occupy the land.

He said the bridges mattered as the Russians needed them to supply their troops.

He said: “Without functional bridges, the Russians would struggle sending across the heavy equipment and munitions their forces need.

“The Russian military is ponderous, and needs heavy logistical supply to undertake operations.”

The Ukrainian military has been progressively destroying the crossings along the river.

Ukraine hit the first crossing on Friday in a targeted HIMARS strike that caused one section of the span to collapse.

It came after they had hit the bridge days before and only left holes in the deck.

Ukraine then bombed the second bridge Sunday with a fighter jet.

A massive hole was left in that bridge making it impassable for vehicles.

Drone footage showed a mushroom cloud rising up from the span and a massive hole emerge.

On Sunday, President Zelenksy for stated the objective of the assault was to create a “buffer zone” between Ukraine and Russia.

He 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.

“Everything that inflicts losses on the Russian army, Russian state, their military-industrial complex, and their economy helps prevent the war from expanding and brings us closer to a just end to this aggression.”

Ukraine invaded Russia on August 6 and has since captured dozens of towns and capturing 1,000 square kilometres of territory.

Troops have reached 35km (21 miles) inside Russia after the surprise breakthrough and continue to push forward.

Hundreds of thousands of Russian civilians have fled their homesas Ukraine’s troops have advanced.

Putin has been humiliated by the invasion, which captured the same amount of land in eight days as Russia had in eight months.

Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon told The Sun the Russian despot needs to act “very quickly” to maintain his iron-grip on power.

He said: “If he doesn’t, there’ll be lots of his gangster chums who’ll quite happily slip something in his tea and take over.

“Putin is on thin ice and the temperature is getting hotter.”

Inside Ukraine's invasion of Russia

Why has the Ukrainian invasion of Russia been so successful?

A DARING Ukrainian military push into Russia’s Kursk region has become the largest attack on the country since World War Two.

Kyiv’s forces have seized scores of villages, taken hundreds of prisoners and forced the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians.

After more than a week of fighting, Russian troops are still struggling to drive out the invaders.

Why has Russian military been caught so unprepared?

A long undefended border

Russia’s regions of Kursk, Bryansk and Belgorod share a 720-mile border with Ukraine – including a 152-mile section in the Kursk region.

And it only had symbolic protection before Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

It’s been reinforced since then with checkpoints on key roads and field fortifications in places – but not enough to repel a Ukrainian assault.

The most capable Russian units are fighting in eastern Ukraine, leaving the border vulnerable to attack.

Element of surprise

Ukrainian troops participating in the incursion were reportedly only told about their mission a day before it began.

The secrecy contrasted with last year’s counteroffensive – when Ukraine openly declared its goal of cutting the land corridor to annexed Crimea.

Ukraine ended up failing as troops trudged through Russian minefields and were pummelled by artillery and drones.

But in Kursk, Ukrainian troops didn’t face any of these obstacles.

Battle-hardened units easily overwhelmed Russian border guards and small infantry units made up of inexperienced conscripts.

The Ukrainians drove deep into the region in several directions – facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic.

Russia’s slow response

The Russian military command initially relied on warplanes and choppers to try to stop the onslaught.

At least one Russian helicopter gunship was shot down and another was damaged.

Moscow began pulling in reinforcements, managing to slow Ukraine’s advances – but failed to completely block troops.

an aerial view of a bridge with smoke coming out of it

Drone footage of the first bridge targeted by Ukraine showed part of it collapsed[/caption]

a large hole in the middle of a dirt road

A bomb strike from a jet created a massive hole in the Zvannoe bridge[/caption] another bridge hit ukraine strikes second key river crossing as it invades russia