Explosions Sunday hit critical road bridges connecting Russian-occupied Crimea with parts of Ukraine’s Kherson region, also under Russian control.
Anton Gerashchenko, Advisor to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, posted a pair of photos on social media that he said were of damage to the bridge over the Tonkyi Strait near Henichesk, a port city along the Sea of Azov in Kherson, as well as the Chongar Bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula with the Kherson region. He said the gas pipeline near Henichesk was also damaged.
Vladimir Saldo, Russian-appointed head of the Kherson region, said the bridges were struck by Storm Shadow missiles, supplied to Ukraine by the United Kingdom. Saldo said no one was hurt in the explosions, but characterized them as “this kind of sneaky missile attack that can’t be forgiven. It’s like a wounded animal snapping back,” adding that the strikes were “petty revenge.”
The bridges were targeted on the same day that Moscow’s mayor said a drone had been shot down over the city. The blasts on the bridges also occurred soon after Ukraine struck the Sig, one of Russia’s biggest oil tankers,with a sea drone.
Last month Ukrainian forces claimed responsibility for a deadly explosion on the Kerch Bridge, damaging the only direct access way from the annexed Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland.
Ukraine on Saturday pledged that there would be more attacks on Russian shipping and the Crimea bridge to come, with Head of the Ukrainian intelligence service SBU Vasyl Maliuk saying any such attacks are “an absolutely logical and effective step…conducted in the territorial waters of Ukraine and are completely legal.”
PHOTO: Damaged bridge over the Tonkyi Strait in occupied Ukraine
