Ukraine says it used US-made glide bombs in Russia’s Kursk region and recaptured some territory in Kharkiv

KIEV (Reuters) – Ukraine’s armed forces said they used U.S.-supplied precision glide bombs to carry out strikes in Russia’s Kursk region, while also claiming to have retaken some territory in the eastern Kharkiv region where Russia launched a spring offensive.

Ukrainian Air Force Commander Colonel-General Mykola Oleshchuk released a video Thursday evening that he claims shows a Russian base being bombed in the Kursk region. He said the GBU-39 attack resulted in Russian casualties and destroyed equipment.

The video showed multiple explosions and columns of smoke rising from the site.

Separately, Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Brigade said its forces had advanced about two square kilometers (about three-quarters of a square mile) in the Kharkiv region. Details about the timing, scope and size of the offensive have not been released, and it is difficult to predict whether it will have any greater impact on the battlefield.

Ukrainian forces gained new momentum this month after the release of delayed U.S. arms shipments. On Aug. 6, Kyiv launched a surprise attack on the Kursk region in western Russia, while simultaneously intensifying its drone war against military and fuel targets that has sparked deep fires in Russia this week.

On Friday, some new details emerged about the damage and injuries caused by some of those attacks.

A Ukrainian drone attack on a remote Russian air base in the Volgograd region has badly damaged an airfield said to house glide bombs used by Moscow in the war, satellite images analyzed by The Associated Press showed Friday.

Meanwhile, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported on Friday that an attack on a cargo ferry in the port of Kavkaz in Russia’s Krasnodar region on Thursday left 13 people injured. TASS quoted health officials as saying that four of the injured were taken to hospital while another person remained missing.

Ukraine’s gains Reshaping the battlefield The outcome has boosted Ukrainian morale 10 years after Russia first invaded their country, and two and a half years after Moscow launched a full-scale invasion that has led to mass death and destruction and created Europe’s largest refugee crisis since World War II.

Ukraine and its Western allies hope this renewed momentum will strengthen Kyiv’s position on the diplomatic front.

The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Kyiv, where he will meet President Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday, is being closely watched. There are Ukrainian hopes that Modi, who has maintained friendly relations and economic ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, will play a role in shaping Peace mediation.

The incursion into Russia has highlighted Russian vulnerabilities but has also increased the pressure on Ukrainian forces already fighting on a front line stretching hundreds of kilometers. That may have undermined Ukraine’s ability to push back Russian forces that have slowly but steadily gained ground in the Donetsk region, distracting Ukrainian forces that could have bolstered their defenses there.

It is unclear how long Ukraine will be able to hold onto the territory it has seized from Russia.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday its forces had repelled Ukrainian attempts to advance toward the villages of Borki and Malaya Lukhnya in the Kursk region. The ministry also said it had destroyed a reconnaissance and sabotage group near Kamyshevka, 20 kilometers (12 miles) north of Sudzha, which the Ukrainians had captured.

Ukraine’s 3rd Separate Assault Division said in a statement late Thursday that Ukrainian soldiers had taken control of an area held by a Russian battalion and some strongholds.

Brigade commander Andrei Beletsky said they attacked Russian forces that were superior “and won,” adding that the ratio of forces on the battlefield was 2.5:1 in Moscow’s favor.

The Associated Press could not independently verify the claims, and there was no immediate comment from Russia.

In May, Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region, which made some gains but quickly stalled. The fighting in that area has subsided as the Russian military focuses its efforts on Donetsk, part of the industrial Donbas region that Moscow has formally annexed but does not fully control.

Russia’s spring advance on Kharkiv is seen as a sign of Ukraine’s weakening position amid delays in Western military aid.

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Jira contributed to this report from Warsaw, Poland. Associated Press writer Jon Gambrell in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, also contributed to this report.