Ukraine has been targeting the key bridges that connect the Crimean Peninsula with the mainland of the country in order to disrupt Russian logistics, a strategy that seems to be working according to a recent report.
The Institute for the Study of War is a Washington-based think tank that has reported on the situation in Ukraine ever since Russia invaded and it noted in its August 12th report that Kyiv’s missile strikes on Crimean bridges were working.
“Previous Ukrainian strikes on bridges along Russian ground lines of communications (GLOCs) between occupied Crimea and occupied Kherson Oblast continue to disrupt Russian logistics,” analysts wrote.
The strike the analysts were writing about likely referred to the August 6th strike on the Chonhar Bridge, an attack that also saw another minor bridge near the Kherson Oblast town of Henichesk damaged by missiles.
“The enemy launched a missile strike in the area of the Chonhar bridge in the north of Crimea,” wrote the Russian-installed leader of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov on Telegram, who added that two of the three missiles fired were shot down according to Reuters.
The Chonhar Bridge is significant because it’s the easiest way for the Russian military to ship supplies from its logistics hub in the Crimean town of Dzhankoi up to the frontlines in Zaporizhzhia Newsweek reported.
Britain’s Ministry of Defence noted in August 2022 that Dzhankoi was “a key road and rail junction that plays an important role in supplying Russia’s operations in southern Ukraine.” Disrupting such a link would be of the utmost importance for the Ukranians.
This may be why the bridge has been the target of several recent attacks. Chonhar was hit on July 29th according to a statement from the Ukrainian Armed Forces and before that, it was attacked on June 22nd based on information posted by Russian officials.
“The Kyiv terrorists want to intimidate Kherson residents and sow panic among the population, but they will not succeed,” wrote the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson Vladimir Saldo in a Telegram message about the attack.
“We know how to repair bridges quickly: vehicle passage will be restored in the very near future,” Saldo added. However, even if the Chonhar Bridge was repaired quickly after each strike it does appear as if the attacks have taken their toll.
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