(Moscow) Ukrainian strikes have partially destroyed a key bridge in the city of Kherson occupied by Russian forces, occupation officials announced Wednesday.
Posted at 6:59 p.m
The Antonovsky Bridge, on the outskirts of Kherson, is strategic and important for supplies, as it connects the city to the southern bank of the Dnieper and the rest of the Kherson region.
“The shooters on the bridge made life a little more difficult for people,” Kirill Stremosov, a representative of the Russian occupation authorities, told Russian media, downplaying the impact of the closure.
“It will have no impact on the outcome of the fight,” he added, without specifying the extent of the damage.
According to him, “everything is planned” and the Russian army will install pontoons and military bridges that will allow them to cross the river.
Kherson, the capital of the eponymous region, is located a few kilometers from the front where Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive to regain these territories lost in the first days of the Russian offensive against Ukraine.
“Aggressors must learn to swim across the Dnieper. Or leave Kherson as soon as they can,” Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak tweeted, commenting on the strike on the Antonovsky bridge.
Natalya Komenyuk, spokeswoman for the Southern Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, confirmed the attacks on the bridge to Ukrainian media.
According to him, the artillery work was “gentle and surgical” and the enemy “demoralized the troops”.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the region has already made it possible to regain ground in recent weeks and bring the front closer to Kherson.
Vital to Ukrainian agriculture, the region borders the Crimean peninsula, since it was annexed by Moscow in 2014. By occupying it, Russia was able to build a land bridge connecting Crimea with Russian territory and other Ukrainian territories it occupied.
The occupation authorities also plan to hold a referendum on the annexation of Kherson and the neighboring region of Zaporizhia.
