Kyiv troops push into Russia; missile sparks blaze in Ukraine

Moscow, August 17

A Russian missile strike sparked a blaze in the Ukrainian city of Sumy on Saturday, while Ukrainian forces continued to push into Russia’s Kursk border region. Two people were injured in the Sumy strike, which also damaged cars and nearby buildings, said Ukraine’s State Emergency Service.

It said the hit had involved an Iskander-K cruise missile and an aerial bomb. Ukraine’s air force also said it had shot down 14 Russian drones overnight, including over the Kyiv region.

Meanwhile, fighting continued in Russia’s Kursk region, where Ukrainian troops have been deployed since August 6 in a bid to divert the Kremlin’s military focus away from the front line in Ukraine.

Alexander Kots, military correspondent with the pro-Kremlin newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda, said Ukrainian pressure in Kursk “is not weakening yet”. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said Ukraine had destroyed a bridge across Seim River with US-made rockets. — AP