The important Chongar bridge connecting the annexed Crimea and the partially occupied region of southern Ukraine, which was struck by Ukrainian forces on Thursday, is currently “no longer usable,” a Russian official said on Friday, AFP writes. At the same time, the Russians began to build a stationary pontoon under the bridge, judging by satellite images.
“Unfortunately, the bridge is damaged much more than we initially thought,” Volodymyr Saldo, head of the administration of the occupied part of the Kherson region, said on Russian state television.
“In the next 15-20 days, or even more, while the work continues and we decide what to do, the bridge will no longer be able to pass,” he added.
The Tsiongar bridge, consisting of two parallel roads that connect Crimea with the Kherson region, was destroyed on the night from Wednesday to Thursday.
This bridge is located on the most direct route between Crimea and Melitopol, one of the largest Russian-occupied cities in southern Ukraine.
Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014, serves as a base for Russian troops, including sending reinforcements and maintaining equipment.
Therefore, several bridges connecting Crimea with occupied southern Ukraine are important for Russian military operations against the background of the counteroffensive of Ukrainian forces in the south and east of the country.
On Thursday, a member of the Ukrainian administration in Kherson, Yuriy Sobolevsky, called the damage to the bridge in Tsiongar “a blow to the logistics of the Russian army.”
The Russians are building a pontoon under the damaged bridge
According to Planet Labs satellite images, the Russians have started building a pontoon under the bridge that was shot down by the Ukrainians.
As expected, the Russians installed a pontoon bridge within 24 hours of the attack on the Chongar Bridge. I expect the Russians to prepare several places for pontoon crossings. https://t.co/wejz6iTikw
— Def Mon (@DefMon3) June 23, 2023
The image also shows the damage to the Chongar bridge and another one next to it.
Ukrainian mass media reports that neither the pontoon nor any damage is visible in the previous pictures from May 18.
Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of occupied Kherson, said that the road was damaged, but there were no victims. According to him, it is likely that Storm Shadow missiles were used during the attack.
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Source: Hot News
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