Fighting fierce as Ukraine pushes deeper into Russia

Fierce fighting continued inside Russia yesterday as Ukrainian troops tried to seize more territory and used kamikaze drones to blow up a Russian pontoon bridge across a strategic river crossing.

- Luke Harding, Dan Sabbagh

Satellite images showed that the temporary bridge had disappeared and there were large puffs of grey smoke. Russian forces built the pontoon between the villages of Zvannoe and Glushkovo after Ukrainian missiles destroyed three bridges across the Seym River.

Ukrainian forces are trying to expand their bridgehead in the Kursk region, after a surprise incursion two weeks ago. An estimated 2,000 to 3,000 Russian conscripts are now stuck in a pocket south of the river in the Glushkovsky district. Some civilians have escaped on small boats.

Yesterday, the Ukrainian army reportedly captured another Russian village, Martynovka. Video emerged of Ukrainian soldiers taking part in a firefight in the hamlet of Malaya Loknya, on part of the frontline. They fired from a Marder infantry fighting vehicle at Russian soldiers. Several houses were in flames.