A Russian-backed official in southern Ukraine claims that Ukrainian troops, employing Storm Shadow missiles provided by the West, have once again destroyed a critical bridge connecting Crimea to Ukraine.
A Kherson official, Vladimir Saldo, said that Ukraine had launched NATO Storm Shadow missiles toward the Chonhar Bridge, which connects the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula to the southern Kherson region of Ukraine.
Sergey Aksyonov, the governor of Crimea, announced on Telegram that the enemy executed a missile strike in the area of the Chonhar bridge in north Crimea.
According to Saldo, Ukraine fired 12 missiles against a bridge across the neighboring Henichesk Strait. He added in a statement that nine of them were shot down by Russian air defense and that one civilian was hurt. Both bridges have been closed to traffic, and Saldo has reported seeing three cavities in the Chonhar Bridge. Aksyonov also said that maintenance had started.
A Ukrainian news site has published an unverified video purporting to show the aftermath of the hit and smoke in the area of the bridge.
Ukraine has often stated its intention to retake Crimea from Russian authority since Russia took the peninsula in 2014. The Chonhar Bridge and the Kerch Bridge that connects Russia to the peninsula have both been previously attacked by Ukraine.
In July, an assault destroyed the bridge that connects the Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.
It was the second strike on the structure since the Russian invasion of Ukraine began, and it resulted in the deaths of two individuals and injuries to another.
According to a report, repairs from a drone attack in October 2022 cost up to $5.5 million, and that took almost 6 months to finish.
Russia’s Investigative Committee claimed that at three in the morning, two underwater unmanned aerial vehicles struck the Crimean Bridge.
The Russian Ministry of Transportation said the blasts damaged the highway but spared the piles that held up the bridge. Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin subsequently reported that early findings of a safety examination found no damage to the supporting structures.
