Ukrainian forces have damaged the Antonovsky Bridge using HIMARS (High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems) in a strike against Russia’s control of the area, according to reports.
On Monday, the Russian news agency TACC confirmed that the attack had taken place, while downplaying its significance.
Ukraine managed to damage the Antonovsky bridge over the Dnieper in Kherson, as well as equipment from construction workers who intended to repair the bridge after shelling.
Kiril Stremousov, deputy head of the military-civilian administration of the Kherson region, told reporters on Monday that due to the strike, “the restoration of traffic [has been] postponed,” according to a TACC report (translated via Google).
“The impact was on the bridge. It burned the booth of the builders who were building the bridge, part of the equipment, a concrete mixer,” he said.
“It’s no big deal, it’s just going to take a little longer to get the bridge open. No one was hurt, but there are still holes in the bridge. We need to patch it up, we will.
A soldier from the Ukrainian special forces unit Kraken monitors the area of a destroyed road bridge near the village of Ruska Lozova, north of Kharkiv, May 16, 2022 – Ukrainian soldiers have used highly mobile artillery missile systems supplied by countries such as the US to retaliate against Russian forces. Dimitar Dilkov/Getty
He added that the bridge was scheduled to open on August 10 after the repairs, but that will no longer happen. The impact of the bridge is significant, as the Antonovsky Bridge is the only road bridge connecting Kherson, located on the west side of the Dnieper, with part of Kherson Oblast on the other side.
However, the TACC report concludes by saying that the bridge has no role to play from a military point of view, but will complicate the lives of civilians.
The Kakhov bridge was also struck by Ukrainian forces using HIMARS, according to a report by Ukraine’s Channel 24.
The report said that the attacks on the bridges were confirmed by the coordinating press center of the Security and Defense Forces of the South, Natlya Gumenyuk.
The same fire control that we have been conducting for several days in this direction has been worked out,” she said.
“The impacts are quite serious, both on the Antonovsky Bridge and on the Kakhovsky Bridge.
Gumenyuk also talked about how this latest attack will reduce morale among Russian soldiers. She added that Russia’s ability to engage in combat could be hampered by the strike on the bridge.
“It’s the lack of ammunition, the lack of equipment that they just brought in and it disappears again, minus the personnel that the enemy lacks anyway.
“We observe that they are withdrawing forces and equipment, but with these reserves they have to ‘patch holes.’
The mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, spoke to Newsweek about how integral the use of HIMARS has been in striking back against Russian forces.
Newsweek contacted the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
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