Source : PortMac.News | Globe :
Source : PortMac.News | Globe | News Story:
News Story Summary:
Key bridge attacked using longer-range weapons in bid to cut off Russian supply routes.
Video and witness accounts showed up to 18 detonations on the Antonivskiy bridge over the Dnipro river, one of the main Russian resupply routes into Kherson, with Russian anti-missile air defences apparently failing to intercept the strikes.
Ukraine’s armed forces published a one-minute clip on Telegram purportedly showing the rocket fire just after 1am on Wednesday. “The moment of the flight over the Antonivskiy bridge,” the force said.
In another series of videos posted to Telegram where loud explosions could be heard, the military added: “Explosions in the Antonivskiy bridge area.”
Senior presidential adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskiy, Anton Herashchenko, cited Ukraine’s armed forces in an update posted on Tuesday morning: “Himars dealt another powerful blow to one of the two bridges across the Dnieper, which are used by the invaders for a massive transfer of troops."
"Let’s hope that this time the Antonivskiy bridge will not withstand the power of the Himars missile attack.”
Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-installed regional authority in Kherson, spoke with Russian media on Tuesday morning, confirming the bridge was shelled, however claimed it was still standing.
“There were hits [after the attack of the Ukrainian troops] on the Antonivskiy bridge, we blocked traffic. We will repair it,” Stremousov told RIA Novosti.
Stremousov added that Ukraine used various artillery systems and the number of missiles “exceeded 10”.
The bridge has come under repeated attack in the past week as Ukraine has tried to cut off the handful of routes Russia can use to move heavy weapons in and around Kherson, including a road over the dam at nearby Nova Khakovka.
Kherson, captured in early March, has long been a focus for the Ukrainians, with the defenders making limited gains in the countryside between Mykolaiv and the target city since April.
But, apparently helped by longer-range weapons, with an effective firing distance of up to 50 miles (80km), the Ukrainians are growing more confident.
Sergiy Khlan, an aide to the administrative head of the Kherson region, told Ukrainian TV a turning point had been reached, and the region “will definitely be liberated by September”.
The latest strikes come as Russian forces continued to dig in in the south in preparation for a long-advertised southern counter-offensive by Kyiv in the country’s south.
Russian troops have also spanned the Inhulets river with a pontoon bridge in an effort to keep open useable crossings and are reported to be repairing an airfield in Melitopol while also attempting to repair the Antonivskiy bridge after previous attacks left visible holes in the surface of the span.
The developing battle in the south in the past fortnight has seen Ukrainian forces repeatedly strike Russian ammunition dumps and command posts with US-supplied Himars systems while Russia has fired missiles at Ukrainian positions along the coast.
While the position of fighting on the ground is far less clear, it appears that there has been fighting around a Ukrainian bridge head to the east of the Inhulets river.
Original Story By | Peter Beaumont