A highway bridge connecting the cities of Donetsk and Mariupol has partially collapsed following Ukrainian strikes, Kremlin-backed authorities in the partially occupied Donetsk region said Wednesday.
The strike targeted a bridge crossing the Malyi Kalchyk River near the village of Hranitne, Konstantin Zinchenko, head of the local district, told the state-run news agency TASS.
Zinchenko said authorities plan to establish a detour route for drivers. Photos of the collapsed bridge span were shared online by Ukrainian war monitoring channels and Russian military bloggers.
Earlier, Ukraine’s military reported striking multiple logistical points, including the bridge near Hranitne. It said it also struck a railway bridge over the Tepla River in the Luhansk region, as well as a crossing near the borders of the Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhia regions.
“These [bridges] are used by the enemy to transfer personnel, weapons, ammunition and logistical supplies,” Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement.
On Monday, a highway bridge near the town of Novoazovsk on the southern coast of the Donetsk region also partially collapsed as a result of a Ukrainian attack. That bridge is part of the R-280 Novorossiya highway, a route connecting southern Russia to annexed Crimea that has faced repeated Ukrainian drone strikes.
Ukraine began ratcheting up its attacks against fuel supply lines in Crimea and Russian oil refineries this spring. After upgrading its long-range drone capabilities, Kyiv now claims it can strike at will along the land corridor through occupied southeastern Ukraine.
