Ukraine has attacked a strategic bridge – VG

Updated just now

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It writes The Guardian night to Wednesday and cites the Armed Forces of Ukraine who announced this on Telegram.

– Explosions in the area of ​​the Antonivskyj bridge, the forces wrote on the message service shortly before midnight on Wednesday.

At the same time, they posted a video purporting to show the attacks.

Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko wrote on Twitter late Tuesday night that another heavy Ukrainian attack allegedly took place against the bridge – which he also pointed out was the main supply line to Russian-occupied Kherson.

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It was at the beginning of March, just a few days after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his approximately 190,000 forces along the Ukrainian borders to invade the neighboring country, that Kherson fell to the Russians.

The port city in the south is considered strategically important as it lies both along the Black Sea, on the banks of the river Dnipro and relatively close to the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Ukraine: Recaptured by September

The Russians have tried to advance from Kherson to the west, but have been repulsed and never got beyond Mykolaiv – a city that has been under heavy Russian fire for months.

But to the east, Russia has managed to take land, and eventually also another important strategic city – Mariupol.

On Tuesday, Ukrainian authorities said that Kherson will be recaptured by Septemberwith the help of Western weapons.

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A possible urban war there will in all probability be very bloody.

It will also be the first time since the full-scale invasion that the Ukrainian forces will attempt to recapture an urban center.

Weapons from the USA

But it is precisely the use of Western weapons, namely American HIMARS, which is the reason for the attack against the important bridge in Kherson, according to Anton Herashchenko, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi.

HIMARS – High Mobility Artillery Rocket System – is a rocket system that Ukraine has received from the USA – the ammunition they have been given to use has a range of around 85 kilometres.

But other Himars ammunition has a much higher range. This is something Ukraine has so far not received from Western partners.

– HIMARS led to another powerful attack against one of two bridges over the Dnipro which are used by the invaders for massive troop movements. Let’s hope that this time the Antonivskyj bridge will not withstand the force of a Himars missile attack, Herashchenko wrote on Wednesday morning in a statement.

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Confirms the attack

The deputy head of the Russian-controlled authority in Kherson, Kirill Stremousov, spoke to Russian media on Wednesday morning and confirmed that the bridge was shelled.

However, he claims that the bridge is still standing.

– There was an attack on the Antonivskyj bridge. The bridge has not been destroyed. We will repair it, he told the state-run Russian news agency Ria Novosti.

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The bridges over the Dnipro River are strategically important for the Russian forces, who need them to get supplies to the front.

If the bridge is closed to traffic, the Russian forces will not receive ammunition and little supplies, which is probably part of Ukraine’s plan to recapture the city.

There are four important bridges to Kherson. Ukraine will probably not destroy the bridges completely as food supplies still have to cross the bridges to enter the city, but rather prevent Russian forces from transporting ammunition and other equipment into the city.

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