Western rockets – most likely US-made Himars – were used to destroy a bridge in Russia’s Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians, Moscow said on Saturday.
Friday’s destruction of the crossing over the Seym River could lead to an entire group of Russian troops defending against the Ukrainian incursion being cut off, if other all other “good” crossings are destroyed, according to the Russian Telegram channel Military Observer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces were strengthening positions in the Kursk region, where Kyiv has been mounting a major ground offensive for more than 11 days.
"The operation is proceeding exactly as we expected," Mr Zelenskyy said late on Saturday.
Kyiv says it has taken control of more than 80 settlements including the key town of Sudzha. The Russian defence ministry said Saturday it had pushed back Ukrainian forces near three settlements in the region.
Ukrainian forces' commander in chief Col Gen Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Friday that Kyiv's forces were advancing between 1km and 3km in some areas.
Ukraine has claimed control over an area of 1,150 square kilometres since August 6.
“For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, probably American Himars,” Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said late on Friday on the Telegram messaging app.
“As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym River in the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian population were killed.”
Russia has accused the West of supporting and encouraging Ukraine's ground offensive on Russian territory and said Kyiv's “terrorist invasion” would not change the course of the war.
The US, which has said it cannot allow Russian President Vladimir Putin to win the war he launched in February 2022, deems the surprise assault a protective move that justifies the use of US weaponry, officials in Washington said.
Ukraine’s incursion represents the first time a foreign army has fought on Russian soil since Nazi Germany's invasion more than 80 years ago.
It has reframed the conflict, leading to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, and the capture of at least 100 Russian troops, according to Kyiv.
It is widely seen as a major morale boost for a country and an army struggling to fend off steady Russian advances, more than two years after Moscow sent troops into Ukraine.
But, so far, it has not dented Russia’s overall strategic advantage.
Russia separately accused Ukraine on Saturday of dropping an explosive charge on a road near the occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine.
Two Italian journalists who angered Moscow with a TV report from the Ukrainian-held parts of Kursk will return to Italy, state broadcaster RAI said.
"The company decided to make journalist Stefania Battistini and cameraman Simone Traini return temporarily to Italy, solely to ensure personal safety and security," RAI said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry summoned Italy's ambassador on Friday over what it called "illegal border crossing" by a RAI crew.
Vladimir Putin gathered top officials on Friday at his regular security council meeting for a report from Defence Minister Andrey Belousov.
But the shock seizure of territory in Kursk was not the main topic, according to local media reports. They quoted Mr Putin as saying the meeting would discuss “new technical solutions adopted during the special military operation”.
The “special military operation” is how Russia describes its invasion of Ukraine.
“The Kremlin doesn’t want to send a message that the enemy is at the gate,” said Olga Oliker, director for Europe and Central Asia at the International Crisis Group think tank in Brussels. “They don’t want to send a message of Ukraine’s strength and their own weakness.”
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces were “strengthening” their positions in Kursk.
In a post on Telegram, Mr Zelenskyy said Col Gen Syrsky “reported on the strengthening of the positions of our forces in the Kursk region and the expansion of stabilised territory”.
Mr Zelenskyy said Russian troops captured in Kursk had “replenished the exchange fund” for prisoner swaps with Moscow.
“I thank all the soldiers and commanders who are taking Russian soldiers prisoner and thus bringing the release of our soldiers and civilians held by Russia closer,” he said.
Kyiv claims to have taken control of more than 80 settlements in its lightning incursion.
The Russian Defence Ministry said on Saturday it had pushed back Ukrainian forces near three settlements in the Kursk region and was searching for “mobile enemy groups” trying to attack deeper into the country.
