Russia-Ukraine war live: Kiev destroys key bridge as troops leave ‘trail of destruction’ in Kursk offensive

Two Italian journalists who angered Moscow with their television reporting from the Ukrainian-controlled part of Russia’s Kursk region are returning to Italy, Italian state television RAI reported on Saturday.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Italian ambassador on Friday to investigate the “illegal border crossing” by the RAI crew.

RAI said: “The company has decided to temporarily return journalist Stefania Battistini and photographer Simone Traini to Italy solely for the sake of their personal safety.”

Baza, a Telegram channel with close ties to Russian law enforcement, has said the Interior Ministry is planning to file criminal charges against the two journalists.

A team of four RAI staff, escorted by Ukrainian troops, filmed the first foreign media coverage from the war-torn Russian town of Sodja, This was taken during the Ukrainian invasion of Kursk last week.

The two journalists were due to fly back to the northern Italian city of Milan on Sunday.

Since then, British journalists from Sky News and CNN have also traveled to occupied Russia and reported back from the town of Souja.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence says Russia is restricting access to information at home in an attempt to limit criticism of Britain’s invasion of Ukraine.

“Russia is restricting access to information to limit criticism of its destructive invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has tightened controls on free speech and communication channels have been cut,” the Defense Ministry said in a post on social media platform X on Saturday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said there had been “dozens of Russian attacks” in eastern Ukraine over the past 24 hours.

“However, our fighters and troops are doing everything they can to eliminate the occupiers and repel their advance. The situation remains under control,” he added.

Zelensky said in a statement on social media platform X that he was “discussing with partners new options for support for our country.” Ukraine has been urging allies to allow the use of Storm Shadow long-range missiles against Russia.

“The focus is on limiting Russia’s offensive potential and ensuring our long-range capabilities. We are preparing corresponding instructions for Ukrainian diplomats,” Zelensky continued.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his troops were “reinforcing” their positions in Russia’s Kursk region on Saturday.

Kiev launched a massive ground offensive in the region on August 6. In a post on Telegram, Zelensky said that Ukrainian Army Chief Oleksandr Sersky “reported on the strengthening of our army positions and the expansion of stable territory in the Kursk region,” according to AFP.

“As of this morning, we have replenished the exchange fund for our country,” Zelensky said, referring to Russian soldiers captured by Ukraine to be used in future prisoner swaps.

“I thank all the soldiers and commanders who captured Russian soldiers, and this brings us one step closer to the release of our soldiers and civilians held in Russian captivity.”

He added that the situation in the region, where Russia is reportedly advancing towards an area on the eastern front near the towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk, was “under control”.

“Over the past day, Russia has launched dozens of attacks on our positions. But our soldiers and troops are doing their utmost to eliminate the occupiers and repel the attacks,” Zelensky said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Ukraine used Western rockets, possibly U.S.-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Seim River in the Kursk region, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians.

“For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by a Western-made rocket launcher, probably an American HIMARS,” Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said late on Friday on the Telegram messaging app.

“The bridge over the Shem River in the Glushkovo district was attacked and completely destroyed, and volunteers who were helping to evacuate civilians were killed.”

This information has not been independently verified.

A Russian missile attack caused massive fires in the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Saturday.

Ukraine’s state emergency service said the Sumy airstrike injured two people and damaged nearby vehicles and buildings. It said the attackers used Iskander-K cruise missiles and an aerial bomb.

Meanwhile, fighting continues in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 6.

Alexander Kotz, a military reporter for the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, said Ukrainian pressure on Kursk “has not yet subsided.” “In the main part of this fragmented front, the situation has stabilized. But there are places where the enemy is still trying to expand the bridgehead,” he wrote on his Telegram channel.

Ukrainian troops also captured some Russian troops as they moved through the area.

The German government will stop providing new military aid to Ukraine as part of its spending cuts, a local newspaper reported on Saturday.

The decision will affect new funding applications but not previously approved aid, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported, adding that a freeze on new aid was already in effect.

German Finance Minister Christian Lindner reportedly said that future funding would no longer come from the German federal budget but from proceeds from frozen Russian assets.

Despite a preliminary deal to use some frozen Russian sovereign assets to support Ukraine, G7 governments have yet to agree on the details of the plan.

Ukrainian Army Chief of Staff Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrkyi claimed Thursday that his forces had captured nearly 445 square miles (1,150 square kilometers) of Kursk.

Tom Watling Look at how much territory within Russia was occupied and how many troops were involved in the invasion.

In case you missed it, Vladimir Zelensky’s top adviser spoke to The Independent’s Tom Watling about the Russian offensive.

Myhaylo Podoljak, a senior aide to the Ukrainian president, said the invasion had opened the eyes of the Russians to the harsh realities of Vladimir Putin’s war.

“We need to use absolutely clear means to coerce Russia (to negotiate). One of those means is military coercion.

“That is, in addition to economic and diplomatic means, we need to inflict a major tactical blow on Russia. In the Kursk region, we see that this military coercion is being optimized to force Russia to join the negotiation process.”

A local official reportedly said Russia is “rapidly approaching” a key military hub in eastern Ukraine.

Serhiy Dobriak, head of the Pokrovsk city military administration, urged residents to evacuate on Thursday. “The enemy is rapidly approaching the outskirts of Pokrovsk,” he said in a telegram.

“They are just over 10 kilometres from the outskirts of Pokrovsk,” he said, adding that the situation “will only get worse”.

Before the war, Pokrovsk had about 60,000 inhabitants and was an important hub for the Ukrainian army.

Ukrainian military officer Sergei Tsehotsky told state broadcaster on Friday that Ukraine’s incursion into Russia had not led to a reduction in attacks in the Donetsk region.

“Given the events in the Kursk region, they (Russian troops) are doing their best to succeed at least in some places,” he said.