Video with the moment when Shem bridge in Russia’s Kursk region, is being blown up, the Ukrainian Air Force announced, prompting Ukrainians to celebrate on social media. In the video, with heavy metal background music, a thick cloud of smoke can be seen after the explosion, and then the bridge is destroyed.

Ukrainian forces destroyed the bridge on Shem River, preventing population evacuations by land, Russia’s state news agency TASS reported, citing local security services.

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

A video of Russian army men surrendering to Ukrainian forces in Kursk was also released.

Ukrainian air defenses shot down all 14 drones launched by Russia against Ukraine overnight, the Ukrainian Air Force also announced on Saturday. The Air Force said in a Telegram statement that Shahid drones were shot down over six regions in southern and central Ukraine.

Russian embarrassment

So far, Russia seems embarrassed, as the destruction of the bridge is yet another blow to its prestige.

The Russian Foreign Ministry announced that Ukraine used western missiles, possibly American-made HIMARS, to destroy a bridge over the Shem River in Kursk Oblast, killing volunteers trying to evacuate civilians.

“For the first time, the Kursk region was hit by Western-made rocket launchers, possibly American HIMARS,” Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said late yesterday, Friday evening, via Telegram.

“As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Shem River in the Glushkovo district, the bridge was completely destroyed and volunteers helping the fleeing population were killed.”

Reuters notes that it was not immediately able to confirm this information.

Ukraine has announced that it has invaded Crimea

Explosions in Russian-occupied Crimea early Friday 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.