War latest: Ukraine destroys Russian bridge in Kursk region; Putin's forces capture territory in Donetsk (2024)

Russia's foreign ministry claims Ukraine used Western rockets to destroy a bridge over the Seym river in the Kursk region.

Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said it was the first time the region had been hit by "Western-made rocket launchers".

The launcher in question was "probably American HIMARS", she said.

"As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seym Riverin the Glushkovo district, it was completely destroyed, andvolunteers who were assisting the evacuated civilian populationwere killed."

Sky News cannot independently verify this account.

Russian authorities are attempting to evacuate around 20,000 civilians from the region in the wake of Kyiv's cross-border incursion on 6 August.

The bridge links areas of Kursk that are still controlled by Russia and areas in which Ukraine has made advances.

Kyiv now holds at least 175 square miles of Russian territory.

It says its incursion is intended to protect Ukrainian lives by preventing cross-border attacks and diverting Russian reinforcements.

Russia regularly fires rockets, missiles and drones into Ukraine from its border regions.

Welcome back to our live coverage of the war in Ukraine.

Yesterday, fighting continued in Russia's Kursk region as Ukrainian troops pushed on with their invasion.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his forces had advanced up to 3km (1.8 miles) in the area, and they were "strengthening" their positions.

The day also saw a key bridge over the River Seym in Kursk destroyed in a Ukrainian attack, Russian state media reported.

Ukraine's air force commanderMykola Oleschuk appeared to confirm the strike, sharing footage of the moment the bridge was hit.

In a post on Telegram, he said pilots had struck "enemy strongholds" and supply routes in the region.

Along the eastern frontline in Ukraine, Russian troops continued to push forward in the Donetsk region, with Moscow's defence ministry claiming its forces had taken control of the village of Serhiivka.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities ordered the rapid evacuation of the nearby city of Pokrovsk.

We'll be bringing you the latest updates throughout the day...

That's all our live coverage on the war in Ukraine for now.

We'll be back tomorrow with all the latest updates.

Before we go, here's a reminder of today's key events:

• An ally of Vladimir Putin - parliamentary deputy Mikail Sheremet - warned that Ukraine's invasion of Kursk had put the world "on the brink of a third world war";
• An anti-Putin group of Russians fighting on behalf of Ukraine urged Russian soldiers in Kursk to surrender and fight with Kyiv's army;
• Russian forces took control of the village of Serhiivka in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, according to the Russian defence ministry;
• A bridge over the River Seym in Kursk was destroyed in a Ukrainian attack, Russian state media reported, citing security officials;
• Ukrainian air force commanderMykola Oleschuk later shared a clip showing the moment a bridge in Kursk was hit, saying Ukrainian pilots had struck "enemy strongholds" and supply routes in the region.

Nine people linked to the late Putin critic Alexei Navalny have been added to Russia's list of "terrorists and extremists", the news agency AFP has reported.

It said those placed on the list include:

• Mr Navalny's former spokeswoman Kira Yarmysh
• His lawyers Olga Mikhailova and Alexander Fedulov
• The chair of Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation Maria Pevchikh
• Opposition journalist Antonina Kravtsova
• Activist Olga Komleva
• Dmitry Nizovtsev, a host on Navalny's YouTube channel
• The YouTube channel's producer Nina Volokhonskaya
• Alexei Malyarevsky, a software programmer jailed for seven years for donating to Navalny's Anti-Corruption Foundation

The names were included on the website of the Russian financial monitoring service Rosfinmonitoring.

The service is responsible to tackling the financing of people and groups that Russia has deemed as "terrorists" or involved in "extremist activity" and is able to freeze the bank accounts of those listed.

On X, Kyra Yarmysh claimed one of her accounts had been blocked within three hours of being added to the list.

Mr Navalny died in February while serving a prison term in an Arctic penal colony.

Russia's prison authorities said the 47-year-old died after a walk, but his wife, Yulia Navalnaya, has accused investigators of trying to cover up his murder.

Riding armoured vehicles and playing with dogs, Ukrainian troops are still firmly on the Russian border.

Reuters has captured photos of them in Sumy - the area where they launched their surprise invasion of Russia's Kursk region last week.

Since then, they've taken land and pushed on with their offensive, capturing the town of Sudzha yesterday and advancing up to 3km (1.8 miles) today, according to their commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi.

Five villages in Russia's Belgorod will be evacuated due to ongoing Ukrainian attacks, the region's governor has said.

Writing on Telegram, Vyacheslav Gladkov said entry to the areas would not be allowed.

"From August 19, we are closing entry to five settlements in the region, resettling residents and helping to remove property," he said.

Yesterday, Russia's Emergencies Ministry declared a "federal level" state of emergency in the Belgorod due to ongoing Ukrainian attacks.

A regional-level state of emergency had been declared earlier in the week, and the change in status suggested a worsening situation in the region.

A Ukrainian lion with "shellshock" is being driven 1,400 miles to start a new life in the UK.

Yuna has psychological issues and coordination problems after debris landed near her enclosure in January, according to a Kent animal sanctuary.

Yuna and male lion Rori - who's also said to be traumatised following a "massive attack" on Kyiv - are the first of five lions being rescued.

Read the full story here...

Footage has emerged of the moment a bridge in Kursk was destroyed.

Ukrainian air force commanderMykola Oleschuk shared the clip on Telegram, saying forces had taken part in "combat operations" in the Russian region.

He said Ukrainian pilots had hit "enemy strongholds", equipment, logistic centres and supply routes with the "high precision strikes".

"Thank you to the pilots and everyone who ensures the combat work of aviation," he added.

It comes after Russian state media reported a key bridge over the River Seym in the area had been destroyed by Ukraine.

The destruction had made civilian evacuations harder, TASS news agency reported, citing Russian security officials.

A man has admitted to being a member of Russia's Wagner Group but claimed he was only "pretending" to be involved.

Piotr Kucharski pleaded guilty to membership of a proscribed organisation between 15 September and 28 October 2023 at the Old Bailey today.

As he entered his plea, the 49-year-old said: "Guilty that I was pretending that I was a member of the organisation."

Dan Pawson-Pounds, prosecuting, said: "There is no evidence that Mr Kucharski actually travelled to the location he claimed to have gone to, or engaged in the activities relating to the Wagner Group, so that is why the charge has been framed in the way it has."

Simon Gledhill, defending, said: "In short, he told people, and gave the impression that, he was a member of the group rather than being an actual member."

Kucharski listed his address as Watford, Hertfordshire, but he said after the hearing that he was from Poland.

He was convicted and served a 15-year sentence for armed robbery in Poland, the court was told.

He remains on conditional bail.

Who are the Wagner Group?

The group was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in September 2023, making it a criminal offence to belong to or support the group in the UK.

The group became a focus of the war in Ukraine in 2022, with its recruits helping Russia in the battle of Bakhmut - one of the bloodiest of the conflict.

Its former leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, later organised a march on Moscow in an attempt to oust senior Russian military leaders over the treatment of his mercenaries and the handling of war.

But, his attempted mutiny failed. He was later exiled by Vladimir Putin and died in a plane crash a short time later.

Three police officers have been injured in a drone attack in the Mykolaiv region, Ukraine's national police has said.

In a post on Telegram, the force said the officers were in the southern Ukrainian area to document the aftermath of previous Russian attacks when a drone hit their car.

It said they all received "explosive injuries" and were undergoing treatment.

It also shared images purporting to show the damaged vehicle.