Ukraine attacks an important bridge in the occupied city of Kherson: “The occupiers must learn to swim” | Abroad

The Antonovsky Bridge, in a suburb of Kherson, is strategic and important for supplies. It is the only bridge still connecting the city to the south bank of the Dnieper River and the rest of the region. It became last week Bombing the bridge across Ukraine. The bridge has already been severely damaged.

“Those who shot at the bridge made life a little more difficult for the residents,” Kirill Strimosov, a representative of the Russian occupation authorities, told Russian media. It has reduced the effect of closing the bridge. It will not affect the outcome of the fight in any way.”

According to him, everything is foreseeable, and the Russian army will build military rafts and bridges to cross the river.

The city of Kherson, the capital of the province of the same name, is located a few kilometers from the front where the Ukrainian forces launched a counterattack. Kyiv wants to recover the territory lost during the early days of the Russian invasion.

“The occupiers should learn to swim to cross the Dnieper. Or leave Kherson as long as they can,” Mikhailo Podoljak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, said on Twitter.

Natalia Guminiuk, a spokesman for the Southern Command of the Ukrainian forces, confirmed the attacks on the bridge to Ukrainian media. According to her, artillery work was “accurate and surgical” and was intended to demoralize the enemy forces. Ukraine’s counter-attack in the region has already led to the restoration of territorial control in recent weeks.

The oblast is important for Ukrainian agriculture, but it also has a strategic location as it borders Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014. With the occupation of Kherson, Russia was able to install a land link between Crimea and the Russian territory and other occupied Ukrainian regions. The occupiers also expected a referendum to include Kherson and the neighboring Zaporizhia Oblast.