Ukrainian forces have destroyed a bridge over the Shem River in Russia’s Kursk region, preventing the evacuation of people by land, Russia’s state-run TASS news agency reported, citing local security services.

A mass evacuation is underway in the Glushkov region, home to 20,000 people, following the rapid Ukrainian invasion of the Russian region.

Ukraine announced that it attacked Crimea this morning – Watch video

Explosions in Russian-occupied Crimea early in the morning were reported on social media.

The Ukrainian armed forces attacked infrastructure in the port of Kerch, and a ship in Khornomorsk, in the early hours of Friday morning, announced on Telegram the Serhii Brachuk, representative of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army of the South.

“Crimean Wind” channel reported smoke in Kerch and fire in Kamianka region near Simferopol, capital of the Republic of Crimea. According to Ukrainian sources, explosions were heard in Sevastopol, Kerch and Feodosia, as well as in other parts of the Crimean peninsula.

The news comes in the shadow of a bold Ukrainian advance in Russia’s Kursk region that has seen Kiev forces seize several villages, capture hundreds of soldiers and force the evacuation of tens of thousands of civilians in what has effectively been the biggest attack in the country since World War II, the Associated Press comments.