Ukrainian forces breach Russian border as glide bombs hit Donetsk

On Thursday evening, Russian forces dropped a glide bomb on the town of Selydove in the Donetsk region. Two people were killed, and eleven others were injured, including a five-year-old child, according to "Ukrainska Pravda."

The damage in the city is immense, with twenty houses destroyed.

Let us recall that during one of the most significant attacks on Russian territory since the beginning of the war, around 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers breached the Russian border into the Kursk region with tanks and armoured vehicles on Tuesday morning. They were supported by drones and artillery, as reported by Reuters on Thursday, citing Russian officials.

Ukrainian forces moved through border fields and forests north to Sudzha, which houses the last pumping station for Russian gas to Europe before the border.

The Russian army employed glide bombs from the Cold War era, which were later fitted with an inexpensive guidance system. This enables Russian Su-34 and Su-35 aircraft to drop these bombs from a distance of several tens of kilometres, rendering most Ukrainian anti-aircraft defence systems ineffective against such a threat.

Although glide bombs are not as precise as cruise missiles, their explosive force alone causes significant damage. According to "The Washington Post," citing analyses from the International Institute for Strategic Studies, this weapon allows Russia to avoid using free-falling bombs, which expose pilots to a higher risk of being shot down, as the aircraft must be directly over the target.