Kursk Region: “A difficult situation is developing…” (video)

Russian troops in the Kursk region, south of the village of Glushkovo, were under threat of encirclement after all three bridges over the Seim River were blown up.

On August 16, the Ukrainian Armed Forces used American HIMARS systems to destroy a key bridge near Glushkovo, through which Russian troops were being supplied, and on August 18 and 19, two more bridges were destroyed, near the village of Zvannoye and in the village of Karyzh.

In the zone of control of Ukrainian troops, writes The Moscow Times, there may be an additional territory south of the Seimas with an area of ​​569 square kilometers. The Independent, citing estimates from the Centre for Defence Strategies, notes that this will allow the territory of the Kursk region controlled by the Ukrainian Armed Forces to be increased by 1.5–2 times, which the Commander-in-Chief of Ukraine Alexander Syrsky estimated at 1.1 thousand square kilometers, and the Institute for the Study of War – at 800 square kilometers.

If the third bridge is indeed destroyed, writes publication, this means that “the Russian army has no full-fledged route left to retreat to the northern shore” of the Seimas, according to military expert Yan Matveyev:

“Now the Ukrainian Armed Forces are threatening to encircle the Russian forces stationed along the border. By forcing them to retreat, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will be able to quickly occupy the entire space between the river and the border. Firstly, this is simply a very large territory. Secondly, the Ukrainian military will receive a good defensive line along the Seim River.”

Z-war correspondents confirm: the destruction of the last bridge across the Seim deprived the army of normal communication with the territory on the other bank. “Rybar”, for example, writes:

“The supply of the Russian troop group now depends entirely on the number of boats and the deployment of a sufficient number of pontoons.”

He adds that in the Glushkovsky district “the most difficult situation is developing,” and the Ukrainian Armed Forces “are creating conditions for preparing a bridgehead” before a new possible offensive in this area. The Ukrainian Armed Forces may try to move further to Rylsk and completely cut off the salient on the border, Matveyev reasons. Another scenario is to build a defense along the Seim bank and transfer forces to other areas, he suggests.

Radio Liberty reports that the Russian army has begun to build pontoon bridges across the Seim River in the Kursk region in order to supply its group.
However, one of these crossings was immediately destroyed.

The Wall Street Journal, citing information received from Western officials familiar with the intelligence, reports that 6,000 soldiers are currently involved in the Ukrainian operation in the Kursk region. The Ukrainian Armed Forces have about 4,000 more soldiers in reserve, who are stationed in the Sumy region.

Russia, according to Western estimates, has transferred about 5,000 soldiers to the Kursk region, mainly conscripts who are being brought in by train from the Moscow and Leningrad military districts. But this is not enough, WSJ intelligence sources believe: according to their estimates, at least 20,000 soldiers are needed to defend the Kursk region.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian Defense Forces control more than 1,250 square kilometers of enemy territory and 92 settlements in the Kursk region of Russia:

“Ukrainian soldiers continue the defensive operation in certain areas of the Kursk region. Today, our forces control more than 1,250 square kilometers of enemy territory and 92 populated areas. Strengthening our positions, stabilizing certain areas and replenishing the exchange fund for Ukraine continues.”

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