Russian forces in Ukraine could face a “significant” military setback if they are denied access to a key bridge across the Dnieper River in the Kherson region.
The UK Ministry of Defense (MOD) said in its intelligence update on Saturday that Ukrainian forces had damaged the Antonovsky Bridge, but could not confirm Ukraine’s claims that the Russians were trying to build another bridge.
The report comes amid Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine, which began on February 24 in what Russian President Vladimir Putin called a “special military operation” and has now turned into a major conflict involving US-supplied weapons to Ukraine and harsh Western sanctions against Russia.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense said there had been heavy fighting in Ukraine’s Kherson region over the past 48 hours and suggested the Dnieper crossing could prove decisive.
“Russia is likely trying to delay the Ukrainian attack using artillery fire along the natural barrier of the Ingulets River, a tributary of the Dnieper,” the ministry tweeted.
“At the same time, supply lines for Russian forces west of the Dnieper are increasingly threatened,” the ministry noted.
The Ministry of Defense said the Ukrainian strikes “caused further damage to the key Antoniv bridge, although Russia has carried out temporary repairs” and the bridge was “almost certainly” open to some traffic on Friday.
However, the ministry said it had not been possible to verify Ukraine’s claims that the Russians were trying to build a military pontoon bridge across the Dnieper.
“The Russian military prioritizes maintaining its military bridge, but any attempt to build a Dnieper crossing would be a very high-risk operation,” the Defense Ministry said.
“If the Dnieper crossing is denied and Russian forces in occupied Kherson are cut off, this would be a significant military and political blow to Russia,” the information update concluded.
Newsweek has sought comment from the Russian government.
On Saturday, the Ukrainian government said Russian missiles had hit infrastructure in the Black Sea port city of Odessa. It comes a day after the countries signed an agreement to reopen Black Sea ports to allow grain exports.
“The enemy attacked the Odesa commercial sea port with Kalibr cruise missiles, 2 missiles were shot down by the air defense forces, 2 hit the infrastructure of the port,” the operational command “South” reported on Telegram.
A senior US defense official told reporters on Friday that Ukraine had successfully used US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Missile Systems (HIMARS) to destroy more than 100 “high value” Russian targets.
These targets reportedly include ammunition depots, long-range artillery positions, command posts, air defense sites, and radar and communications nodes.
A Russian serviceman guards a grain elevator in Melitopol, Zaporozhye region, on July 14, 2022, amid ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. Russia may be facing a “significant” military setback in the Kherson region. OLGA MALTSEVA/AFP/Getty Images
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