Ukraine’s Armed Forces have once again launched a missile attack on the Antonivskyi Bridge in Kherson, report Ukrainian Telegram channels and Russian news agencies. At the moment of the strike, explosions were heard and bright flashes were seen in the sky.
The occupation “government” of Kherson claims that the bridge was attacked but that it is still standing. “The bridge is standing, the bridge was, in fact, fired at, but that doesn’t mean that we have to suddenly become scared of somebody or run away somewhere,” declared Kirill Stremousov, the self-proclaimed “deputy head of the regional military administration” of the Kherson region. Later on, he added that
the bridge was damaged and closed for traffic, “more holes appeared”.
Ukrainian troops tried to launch a missile strike on Kherson three times yesterday, but air defence systems intercepted all the missiles, added the occupation “government”.
A representative of the Operational Command South of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Nataliya Gumenyuk confirmed that a strike on the Antonivskyi Bridge had taken place.
The shelling of the Antonivskyi Bridge started on 19 July. Pro-Russian “authorities” of Kherson said that Ukraine used American HIMARS to strike upon the bridge, the Ukrainian side confirmed the strike. On 20 July, the occupation “government” again reported that 11 missiles were launched upon the bridge from HIMARS.
The Antonivskyi Bridge across the Dnipro river connects Kherson with the left-bank part of the Kherson region, which is currently under the Russian occupation. Russian forces use the bridge to transfer equipment and ammunition.
British intelligence considered the control of crossing over Dnipro a deciding factor in who would win the fighting in Ukraine’s south. The Institute for the Study of War (IWS) reported that Ukraine’s strikes on Kherson’s bridges were aimed at preventing Russia from being able to transfer equipment, while not interfering with food supply chains.
On 10 July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ordered development of a plan of counter-offensive on the country’s south territories occupied by Russian forces, which includes the Kherson region.
Correction, 11:35 am: the spelling of the Antonivskyi Bridge was edited
