Kyiv’s air defenses use a searchlight for drones in the sky over the capital during a Russian strike, August 16, 2024 (Gleb Garanich/Reuters)

Saturday’s Coverage: Incursion Into Russia’s Kursk Destroys 2 Important Bridges

Map: Institute for the Study of War

UPDATE 1036 GMT:

A Ukrainian drone strike has set a fire at an oil depot in the Rostov region in western Russia.

Governor Vasily Golubev and Russian Telegram channels confirmed the strike in the city of Proletarsk. Golubev said the attack was repelled but falling debris struck an industrial warehouse and caused a diesel fuel fire. Firefighting efforts were interrupted by repeated attacks.

No casualties were reported.

UPDATE 1017 GMT:

Ukraine’s military has confirmed the destruction of a second key bridge in its incursion into the Kursk region in southwest Russia.

The military said on Friday that it demolished one of the three bridges over the Seym river in the Glushkovo region. Reports indicated that a second bridge had been damaged.

On Saturday, Air Force commander Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk’s Telegram channel posted video of the destroyed second bridge in Zvannoe.

Minus one more bridge! The aviation of the air force continues to deprive the enemy of its logistical capabilities with accurate airstrikes, which significantly affects the course of hostilities.

ORIGINAL ENTRY: Ukraine’s capital Kyiv has repelled another Russian missile and drone attack.

The city’s military administration said, “All enemy drones were destroyed far outside the city. It declared no damage or casualties from the UAVs or the ballistic missiles, “most likely” North Korean KN-23s.

“This is the third ballistic missile attack on the capital in August with a clear interval of six days between each attack,” the administration’s head Serhii Popko added.

The Ukraine Air Force later said that the attack consisted of one Russian and two North Korean missiles, five cruise missiles, and eight Iran-made kamikaze drones.

The two North Korean ballistic missiles, three cruise missiles, and all drones were intercepted. The Russian ballistic missile and two other cruise missiles “did not reach their desired targets”.

Revising the city administration’s initial assessment, the State Emergency Service published photos of damaged residential buildings and said rescuers were assisting people.

Russian shelling injured two civilians in the Kherson region in southern Ukraine. Attacks on 20 settlements damaged an administrative building, an educational institution, a shop, vehicles, and eight private homes.

The Russians also attacked the Dnipropetrovsk region in south-central Ukraine wit drones and artillery. A farm building was damaged, but no casualties were reported.

Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskiy summarized the week of Russian strikes: