CBS News
Ukrainian forces strike 2 key bridges in Russia’s Kursk area
Ukraine has a key bridge in Russia’s Kursk region and struck a second one nearby, disrupting supply lines as it pressed a stunning cross-border incursion that began Aug. 6, officials said Sunday.
The bridge attacks, apparently aimed at thwarting a Russian counter-push in Kursk, could mean that Kyiv intends to seek a foothold in the region.
Pro-Kremlin military bloggers acknowledged that the destruction of the first bridge on the Seim River near the town of Glushkovo will impede deliveries of supplies to Russian forces repelling Ukraine’s incursion, although Moscow could still use pontoons and smaller bridges. Ukraine’s air force chief, Lt. Gen. Mykola Oleshchuk, on Friday, released a video of an airstrike that cut the bridge in two.
Less than two days later, Ukrainian troops hit a second bridge in Russia, according to Oleshchuk and Russian regional Gov. Alexei Smirnov.
As of Sunday morning, there were no officials giving the exact location of the second bridge attack. But Russian Telegram channels claimed that a second bridge over the Seim, in the village of Zvannoe, had been struck.
According to Russia’s Mash news site, the attacks left only one intact bridge in the area. The Associated Press could not immediately verify these claims. If confirmed, the Ukrainian strikes would further complicate Moscow’s attempts to replenish its forces in Kursk and evacuate civilians.
Glushkovo is about 12 kilometers (7.5 miles) north of the Ukrainian border, and approximately 16 kilometers (10 miles) northwest of the main battle zone in Kursk. Zvannoe is located another 8 kilometers (5 miles) to the northwest.
Ukraine could try to hold the ground it has seized
Kyiv has said little about the scope and goals of its push into Russia with tanks and other armored vehicles, the largest attack on the country since World War II, which took the Kremlin by surprise and saw scores of villages and hundreds of prisoners fall into Ukrainian hands.
The Ukrainians drove deep into the Kursk region in several directions, facing little resistance and sowing chaos and panic as tens of thousands of civilians fled the area. Ukraine’s Commander in Chief, Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, claimed last week that his forces had advanced across 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles) of the region, although it was not possible to independently verify what exactly Ukrainian forces effectively control.
Analysts say that although Ukraine could try to consolidate its gains inside Russia, it would be risky, given Kyiv’s limited resources, because its own supply lines extending deep into Kursk would be vulnerable.
The incursion has proven Ukraine’s ability to seize the initiative and has boosted its morale, which was sapped by a failed counteroffensive last summer and months of grinding Russian gains in the eastern Donbas region.
The move into Kursk resembled Ukraine’s lightning operation from September 2022, led by Syrskyi, in which its forces reclaimed control of the northeastern Kharkiv region after taking advantage of Russian manpower shortages and a lack of field fortifications.
Zelenskyy seeks permission to strike deeper into Russia
On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy urged Kyiv’s allies to lift the remaining restrictions on using Western weapons to attack targets deeper in Russia, including in Kursk, saying his troops could deprive Moscow “of any ability to advance and cause destruction” if granted sufficient long-range capabilities.
“It is crucial that our partners remove barriers that hinder us from weakening Russian positions in the way this war demands. … The bravery of our soldiers and the resilience of our combat brigades compensate for the lack of essential decisions from our partners,” Zelenskyy said in a post on the social platform X.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry and pro-Kremlin bloggers have alleged that U.S.-made HIMARS launchers have been used to destroy bridges on the Seim. These claims could not be independently verified.
Ukraine’s leaders have repeatedly sought authorization for long-range strikes on Russian air bases and other infrastructure used to pummel Ukraine’s energy facilities and other civilian targets, including with retrofitted Soviet-era “glide bombs” that have laid waste to Ukraine’s industrial east in recent months.
Moscow also appears to have increased attacks on Kyiv, targeting it Sunday with ballistic missiles for a third time this month, according to the head of the municipal military administration. Serhii Popko said in a Telegram post that the “almost identical” August strikes on the capital “most likely used” KN-23 missiles supplied by North Korea.
Another attempt to target Kyiv followed at about 7 a.m., Popko said, this time with Iskander cruise missiles. Ukrainian air defenses struck down all the missiles fired in both attacks on the city, he said.
Fears mount for Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
In a separate development, the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog agency said Saturday that the safety situation at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant is deteriorating following reports of a nearby drone strike.
Rafael Grossi, director of the International Atomic Energy Agency, urged “maximum restraint from all sides” after an IAEA team stationed in the plant reported that an explosive carried by a drone detonated just outside its protected area.
According to Grossi’s statement, the impact was “close to the essential water sprinkle ponds” and about 100 meters (100 yards) from the only power line supplying the plant. The IAEA team at the plant has reported intense military activity in the surrounding area in the past week, it said.
Kyiv and Moscow have traded blame for attacks in the vicinity of the power plant since it was captured by Russian forces early in the 2022 invasion, including a fire at the facility last weekend. Grossi’s statement said the blaze had caused “considerable damage,” but posed no immediate danger to nuclear safety.
Ukraine has repeatedly alleged that Russia plans to stage an attack and blame Ukrainian forces. Last summer, Zelenskyy warned of possible explosives he said Moscow may have planted on the plant’s roof to blackmail Ukraine.
CBS News
Tracking the hours before a young Minnesota woman became a murder victim
On Dec. 15, 2022, Matthew Ecker was headed to work when he said he got a frantic call from his former co-worker and friend Alex Pennig. He said Pennig told him she got in a fight with her boyfriend Shane Anderson and was scared of what he might do. So, Ecker took his gun, which he owned legally, and drove to Pennig’s St. Paul, Minnesota, apartment.
Ecker arrived around 2 p.m. He would later say his only reason for going to Pennig’s was to protect her.
Early the next morning, Pennig was shot dead in her apartment. Detectives used surveillance footage to piece together her final moments.
The altercation
Pennig and Ecker went out to a few bars that evening and ended up at Camp Bar at 12:30 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2022. Anderson was at the bar. Surveillance video shows he walked over to Pennig and began talking to her. Ecker walked over to the two of them. Things got heated, and when Ecker stepped in between Pennig and Anderson, Anderson punched him. Anderson was kicked out of the bar and Pennig and Ecker stayed for about an hour drinking and chatting.
Matthew Ecker and Alex Pennig arrive home for the night
At 2:05 a.m., Pennig and Ecker arrive at her apartment building after walking there from Camp Bar.
A return to the lobby
At 2:24 a.m., Pennig and Ecker are seen back in the lobby as they walk out of the building. Ecker would later say he was going to his car to get his headphones. Pennig (pictured) returned first and waited in the vestibule for Ecker. She paces around looking at her phone.
Alex Pennig last seen alive
Ecker returns two minutes after Pennig at 2:30 a.m. The two then walk through the lobby and go back up to Pennig’s apartment. This is the last time Pennig was seen alive.
St. Paul police officers arrive on scene
At 2:50 a.m., Ecker called 911 and reported that Pennig shot herself in the head. St. Paul police officers raced to the apartment building and Ecker let them inside at 2:56 a.m.
Matthew Ecker’s story
After leading police officers to Pennig’s apartment, Ecker sat in the hallway, appearing distressed and emotional. Officer Justina Hser approached him and began asking him what happened. Their conversation, which lasted nearly an hour, was captured on her body camera. Ecker told her everything was fine between him and Pennig and that they did not have an argument. He said she grabbed his gun out of his backpack, backed into the bathroom and locked the door. Moments later, Ecker said he heard a shot, so he broke open the bathroom door to find Pennig laying on the floor with a gunshot wound to her left temple.
The weapon
Responding officers located the gun. It was on Pennig’s chest with her left hand resting on top. They noted that this seemed odd. One officer then moved the gun to the sink (pictured) to place it in a safe position.
Notable evidence
Ecker had told officers he washed his hands after trying to help Pennig, which is why his hands were clean. But the officers noticed that the bathroom sink was dry when they arrived. If Ecker had just washed his hands, detectives believed the sink probably would have still been wet.
A lack of evidence on Matthew Ecker
Ecker was interviewed by detectives around 6:30 a.m. on Dec. 16, 2022. He had no visible blood on his body or his clothes. It was later discovered that Ecker also had no gunshot residue on him.
The defining evidence
While Ecker was being interviewed at the police station, the forensic unit processing the scene notified detectives that they had found a new piece of evidence once Pennig’s body was moved. It was a metal piece of the bathroom door lock, and it was discovered on the floor where Pennig’s head was. The detectives suspected that when Ecker broke open the door, that small metal piece landed on the bathroom floor. According to the detectives’ theory, Ecker broke open the bathroom door, then Pennig was shot and fell on top of the piece. They say this proves the bathroom door was forced open before Pennig was shot, and that Ecker had lied to them.
The accused: Matthew Ecker
On Dec. 19, 2022, Matthew Ecker is formally charged with second-degree murder. Ecker denies killing Alex Pennig.
The trial of Matthew Ecker
On Feb. 8, 2024, Ecker’s trial begins. Eight days later, on Feb. 16, 2024, he is found guilty of second-degree murder.
Matthew Ecker sentencing
On April 3, 2024, Ecker is sentenced to 30 years in prison. He is appealing his conviction.
CBS News
The Uplift: An adaptable dog
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.
CBS News
Eye on America: New hotel runs on clean energy, and growing threats of inland flooding
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.