According to Russian-appointed officials, Ukrainian missiles targeted the Chonhar road bridge connecting Crimea with Russian-held sections of the southern Kherson region overnight, causing traffic to be diverted to an alternative route.
The so-called "gate to Crimea," also known as the Chongar Bridge in Russian, is one of just a few bridges connecting Crimea to the rest of Ukraine.
It is on a route used by the Russian military to travel between Crimea and other portions of Ukraine controlled by Russia.
According to Yuriy Sobolevsky, a Ukrainian representative on the Kherson region's governing council, the hit was "a blow to the military logistics of the occupiers."
According to Russian investigations, Ukrainian forces launched four missiles at the bridge, according to the RIA news agency. According to a spokeswoman for military investigations, marks discovered on the wreckage of one of the missiles showed it was manufactured in France.
According to Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson, areas of which Russian soldiers have occupied during what Moscow terms its "special military operation," the road bridge was destroyed but no one was killed.
Saldo's Telegram photo showed a massive hole in the bridge's surface, with water visible beneath it and debris scattered nearby. Saldo speculated that Ukraine may have employed Storm Shadow cruise missiles provided by the United Kingdom for the operation.
“The Kyiv terrorists want to intimidate Kherson residents and sow panic among the population, but they will not succeed. We know how to repair bridges quickly: vehicle passage will be restored in the very near future,” he said.
“We have an answer to every move by the enemy. A link between the Kherson region and Crimea continues to operate—a reserve route has been temporarily organised for vehicular traffic.”
Crimea's Russian-appointed governor, Sergei Aksyonov, urged residents to be calm and said professionals were inspecting the scene to decide when traffic across the bridge might resume.
