Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukrainian forces used US-made rockets to destroy a key bridge in the Glushkov district of Russia’s Kursk region, killing “volunteers who were helping to evacuate civilians.”
“For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made missile launchers, probably American HIMARS,” Zakharova said on Telegram.
This claim of hers cannot be independently verified.
She said that in the attack, which “destroyed” the bridge over the river Seim, “volunteers who were helping the evacuated civilian population were killed.”
This claim cannot be independently verified either.
According to Russian security officials, the destruction of the bridge cut off part of the district, making it difficult to evacuate civilians from the region.
Moscow has often accused Kiev’s Western allies of supporting and encouraging Ukraine’s first ground offensive into Russian territory, which led to the evacuation of more than 120,000 civilians, according to Russian authorities, Radio Free Europe reports.
Kiev claims to have taken control of 82 settlements in an area of 1,150 square kilometers since its surprise cross-border incursion on August 6.
The United States has so far considered the incursion a defensive move that justifies the use of American weapons, according to officials in Washington.
