International

Ukraine destroys another key bridge in the Russian region of Kursk and takes another locality

The Ukrainian Army claims that it has destroyed a second bridge in the Russian region of Kursk where its detachments are “reinforcing” positions, Air Force Commander Mykola Oleshchuk reported on his Telegram channel. In addition, he has taken the Russian town of Otruba.

Oleshchuk posted a video on that social network where he apparently shows what he described as a “precise” air strike on the structure of the bridge.

Although Oleshchuk did not specify the location of the damaged structure, the Russian Telegram channel ‘Mash’ said that it was a bridge over the Seim River, near the town of Zvannoye.

He also stated that the attack used HIMARS (multiple rocket launcher system) supplied by the United States, according to information from local Russian media that cannot be independently verified.

If this attack is confirmed, it would be the second bridge destroyed by Ukrainian forces in recent days, which will further hinder Russia’s ability to replenish troops to defend itself from Ukraine’s incursion.

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Another bridge over the Seim River in the Glushkovsky district in the Russian region of Kursk was attacked on August 16, as confirmed by Alexey Smirnov, interim governor of the region.

For its part, Russia affirmed that “this is not the time” to negotiate with Ukraine in view of its offensive in the Russian border region of Kursk, but insisted that Moscow’s conditions for the settlement of the conflict “are not annulled.”

“No, (the conditions) are not canceled, but right now it would be inappropriate to start a negotiation process,” Kremlin adviser Yuri Ushakov told the Telegram Shot channel.

He insisted that at the current stage of Ukraine’s incursion into Kursk, Russia is not going to talk to the authorities of that country.

Ushakov thus referred to the conditions of Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war in Ukraine, which go through the withdrawal of Kiev forces from four regions annexed by Moscow in September 2022.

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Russian forces captured 19 Ukrainian soldiers during the defense of the Russian region of Kursk from the Ukrainian offensive, the state agency RIA Novosti reported.

Almost two weeks after the start of Ukraine’s cross-border offensive in the Russian region of Kursk, Ukrainian troops claim to control about 1,000 square kilometers of Russian territory and more than 80 settlements in the region and continue to move forward.

One of the objectives of the Ukrainian incursion into Kursk is to create a plug zone in the territory of the aggressor country, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has confirmed.

“Right now, the main task of our defensive actions is to destroy as much as possible of the Russian potential, of its war potential, and maximize our counterattacks,” Zelenski said in his last night speech.

“This includes the creation of a plug zone in the aggressor’s territory: our operation in the Kursk region,” he explained.

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Everything that inflicts damage to the Army, the State, the defense or the economy of the Russian Federation helps Ukraine to prevent the expansion of the war and put an end to it with “a just peace for Ukraine,” Zelenski emphasized.

On the other hand, Ukrainian forces have taken the Russian town of Otruba and 11.5 square kilometers of its surroundings after penetrating the Russian region of Kursk crossing the border in another area, 35 kilometers from the initial incursion, Ukrainian military analysts say.

The take of Otruba was confirmed by the Ukrainian analysis platform DeepState on Sunday at the last minute.

According to the map of the fights, there are several more localities that are in the running, including Tiotkino and the territories near Popovo-Lezhachi, so in total there are six square kilometers that are being contested in that area.

These fighting is taking place west of the Glushkovo district of the Kursk region, about 35 kilometers away from the area that Ukraine already controls in the Russian region, east of that district.

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To the east of the Glushkovo district, Ukraine captured the towns of Snagost and Apanasivka, Deepstate also reported on Sunday night, and its forces have also made advances in Olgovka, near Korenevo, to the north.

As a result, Ukraine already controls or disputes more than 1,200 square kilometers of Russian territory in Kursk, according to Deepstate.

However, families with minors will have to leave the city of Pokrovsk, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donetsk, due to the danger posed by the Russian advance towards the important logistical node, the authorities announced.

Russia has lost more than 600,000 of its soldiers, between dead and wounded, since the beginning of its large-scale invasion that began almost two and a half years ago, said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Army.

In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) warns of the deterioration in the safety of the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporijia, under Russian occupation and with the reactors turned off since 2022, after the impact this weekend of a drone with an explosive charge near the plant.

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“Nuclear power plants are designed to withstand technical, human and external events, even extreme failures, but they are not built to resist a direct military attack,” explains the director general of the IAEA, the Argentine Rafael Grossi, in a statement.

The Ukrainian Air Force also stated that last morning it has managed to successfully intercept the 11 kamikaze-type drones launched by Russia from the Kursk and Primorsko-Akhtarsk regions.

For its part, the Russian Army took the Ukrainian town of Zalizne, known to the Russians as Artiomovo, in its advance towards the city of Toretsk, one of the objectives of the Russian offensive in the annexed region of Donetsk, as reported today by the Russian Ministry of Defense in its daily war report.

International

Iran Reports 201 Dead, 747 Injured After U.S. and Israeli Strikes

The Iranian Red Crescent Society reported Sunday night (local time) that at least 201 people were killed and 747 injured following attacks carried out by Israel and the United States against the Islamic Republic.

A spokesperson for the humanitarian organization said more than 220 rescue teams have been deployed across affected areas and that relief operations are continuing without interruption. The official highlighted the difficulty of treating the large number of wounded and the urgent need for additional resources in impacted provinces.

Out of Iran’s 31 provinces, 24 have reported damage, according to a statement carried by the Isna news agency. This marks the first overall casualty toll released by Iranian state-affiliated media since the launch of the offensive.

Among the dead are 85 schoolgirls from a school in the southern city of Minab, according to the country’s judiciary. “The number of martyrs at the Minab girls’ school has risen to 85,” the local prosecutor’s office said, as quoted by the judiciary’s website, Mizan Online.

Iranian President Masud Pezeshkian described the attack as a “savagery” that “constitutes a new black page in the record of countless crimes committed by the aggressors.”

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Meanwhile, the international community continues to monitor the situation closely amid concerns about possible further reprisals and the broader impact on Middle East stability, energy markets, and global security.

AFP noted that it was unable to independently verify the casualty figures or the circumstances surrounding the events.

International

Pope Leo XIV Urges End to ‘Spiral of Violence’ in Middle East

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for an end to the “spiral of violence” in the Middle East, following military strikes by the United States and Israel against Iran and subsequent retaliatory bombardments in the region.

“Faced with the possibility of a tragedy of enormous proportions, I urge the parties involved to assume their moral responsibility and stop the spiral of violence before it becomes an irreparable abyss,” the pontiff told the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican.

Speaking during the Angelus prayer, the U.S.-born pope said stability and peace cannot be achieved through threats or weapons. “Stability and peace are not built with reciprocal threats or with arms that sow destruction, suffering and death, but only through reasonable, sincere and responsible dialogue,” he declared.

The leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics also called for diplomacy to “regain its role” amid escalating tensions.

In addition, the pope urged Afghanistan and Pakistan to urgently resume dialogue after several days of clashes between the two countries.

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International

Security Council to Hold Emergency Meeting on Middle East Crisis

UN Secretary-General António Guterres on Saturday condemned the “military escalation in the Middle East” following attacks by the United States and Israel against Iran and Tehran’s retaliatory strikes, just hours before an urgent meeting of the UN Security Council.

“I call for the immediate cessation of hostilities and de-escalation,” Guterres said in a statement.

The Security Council is scheduled to meet on Saturday at 21:00 GMT (4:00 p.m. in New York) to address “the situation in the Middle East,” the United Nations announced.

The meeting, during which Guterres will deliver remarks, was convened at the request of France, Bahrain, Colombia, Russia and China, according to a diplomatic source.