Fresh Ukrainian attacks have damaged several bridges connecting the occupied Kherson region with Crimea, Kremlin-installed officials said Thursday morning, coming days after they ordered restrictions on commercial and passenger traffic along major roadways leading to the annexed peninsula.
Vladimir Saldo, the Moscow-appointed head of occupied Kherson, said Ukrainian drones struck bridges spanning the North Crimean Canal near Preobrazhenka and Myrno, a road bridge along the Perekop–Armiansk route and a bridge near the village of Stavky.
“According to preliminary reports, damage has been detected. Specialists are currently conducting inspections to assess the condition of the structures,” Saldo wrote in a post on Telegram.
The targeted bridges have served as alternative corridors into Crimea after damage from Ukrainian attacks earlier in the week forced the closure of the Chonhar bridge further to the east. The Chonhar bridge is part of the R-218 highway that connects the Russian city of Rostov-on-Don to Simferopol.
For weeks, Ukraine has ratcheted up its mid-range drone attacks against military trucks and fuel tankers that supply Crimea from the north, which has led to local gasoline shortages.
While the peninsula is linked directly to mainland Russia via the Kerch Bridge in the east, Ukrainian attacks in recent years have prompted Moscow to restrict its use for hazardous cargo like fuel. Instead, supply lines have relied on northern land corridors.
Ukraine’s military said earlier this month that its expanding strike campaign may soon force Russia to risk using the Kerch Bridge for military transportation again.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky claimed his military’s Unmanned Systems Forces have inflicted $40 billion of damage on various Russian targets in the year since the establishment of the drone unit.
“We can achieve objectives that were previously either completely out of reach of conventional weapons or extremely difficult to achieve,” Zelensky wrote on X.
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