The Ukrainian army announced today, Wednesday, that "its forces are using American-made HIMARS missile systems to destroy floating bridges and engineering equipment in the Russian Kursk region, targeting logistics in its significant incursion across the border." Russian officials state that Ukraine has inflicted damage or destroyed at least three bridges over the Sim River since Kyiv launched a major attack on western Russia on August 6, advancing between 28 to 35 kilometers.
Ukrainian special operations forces stated on the messaging app Telegram: "Where are the Russian floating bridges in the Kursk region disappearing to? Our men... are destroying them accurately." The statement mentioned that American-made HIMARS missile systems were utilized. This was the first official statement from Kyiv indicating that Western weapons are part of this unprecedented attack.
Washington did not directly comment on the use of American-made weapons in the Kursk region, but stated that its policies had not changed and that Ukraine is defending itself against Russian attacks. Despite restraining Ukraine from launching long-range strikes using Western weapons within Russia, Western allies allow Kyiv to use them to bombard border areas since the new Russian assault on the Kharkiv region this spring.
The Kremlin describes the use of American-made weapons within its territory as an escalation. A video released by the special forces showed attacks on several floating crossings, and at least one attack appeared to have been carried out with cluster munitions.
