UK Ministry of Defense
UK Ministry of Defense
Ukraine’s air force has played a key role in the campaign targeting bridges.
“Kursk direction. Minus one more bridge!” the Ukrainian air force wrote in an August 18 Telegram statement after a strike.
“Aviation of the Air Force continues to deprive the enemy of logistical capabilities with precise strikes from the air, which significantly affects the course of hostilities!” it added.
The campaign targeting bridges underscores how Ukraine has been able to use airpower to support its ground forces in Kursk. Kyiv has struggled throughout the war to execute combined-arms operations like these in other areas of the front line.
Ukraine has also used ground-launched weapons like the US-provided High Mobility Rocket Artillery System, or HIMARS, to strike bridges in Kursk.
Ukraine stunned the Kremlin and the international community in early August when it suddenly launched an invasion into Kursk, marking the largest assault on Russian soil by a foreign enemy since World War II.
Britain’s defense ministry said on Sunday that Ukraine has maintained control of up to 900 square kilometers — roughly 350 square miles — of territory in Kursk since mid-August.
Questions remain on whether it can hold its gains. Russia recently launched counteroffensive operations in Kursk. Britain’s defense ministry said Moscow has highly likely retaken several villages in the region through these efforts, which have been led by airborne and naval infantry forces.
Ukraine continues to express its commitment. “Every day, unwavering attention is paid to the frontline and our operation in the Kursk region,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a Sunday address to the nation, according to a transcript of his remarks. “We continue our active operations, and it is crucial that the ‘exchange fund’ for us, for our state is being replenished.”