Global Courant
Ukrainian missiles struck the Chonhar road bridge connecting occupied Crimea to Russian-occupied parts of the southern Kherson region overnight, forcing traffic to take a different route, Russian-appointed officials said Thursday.
The so-called “Gateway to Crimea”, known to Russians by a different spelling as the Chongar Bridge, is one of the few links between Crimea – which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014 – and mainland Ukraine.
It lies on a route used by the Russian military to move between Crimea and other parts of Ukraine under its control.
There was no immediate comment from Kiev, which has said it wants to retake Crimea and expel all Russian troops from its territory.
Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson, parts of which Russian forces captured in what Moscow calls its “special military operation,” said the road bridge was damaged but there were no casualties.
A photo Saldo posted to Telegram showed a large hole in the surface of the bridge with water visible below and debris scattered nearby. Saldo said initial information suggested Ukraine likely used British-supplied Storm Shadow missiles for the attack.
“The terrorists of Kiev want to intimidate the people of Kherson and create panic among the population, but they will not succeed. We know how to repair bridges quickly: vehicular passage will be restored in the very near future,” he said.
“We have an answer to every move of the enemy. There is still a connection between the Kherson region and Crimea – a reserve route has been temporarily created for car traffic.”
Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed governor of Crimea, told people to keep calm and said specialists were examining the site to determine when traffic could resume across the bridge.
