Bridge between annexed Crimea and Ukraine damaged by Ukrainian attack
Chongar Bridge (Chonhar, in Ukrainian) ?which connects annexed Crimea and an area of southern Ukraine partially occupied by Russian forces, was damaged by a Ukrainian attack, local Russian authorities said.
“During the night, a strike hit the bridge of Tchongar. There are no victims”said the Russian governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov, adding that the damage was being assessed. This bridge connects Crimea annexed by Moscow in 2014 to an area of the Ukrainian region of Kherson occupied by Russian forces.
Images posted on Telegram show that the deck of the bridge was pierced in at least one place by a missile. According to Vladimir Saldo, installed by Moscow at the head of the occupied zones in Kherson, Storm Shadow missiles were used against the bridge, without it being possible to verify these claims independently.
Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the governor of Crimea, recalled on Telegram that Crimea is connected to the Kherson region by three bridges: two in the Armiansk region – via Kalanchak and Chaplynka – and one in the Dzhankoy region – via the Tchongar bridge –, considering that the damage to one of the three will not disrupt supply to the region. This bridge is used to transport military equipment to the Zaporizhia region.
This strike reported by the Russian authorities comes as Ukrainian forces have been carrying out offensive actions since the beginning of June in several sectors of the front, particularly in southern Ukraine. Crimea serves in particular as a logistics rear base for the Russian forces deployed in southern Ukraine.