The Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson was hit by eight HIMARS rockets, which caused enormous holes in it.
Residents of the Kherson region published video footage showing extensive damage to the Antonovsky bridge. The holes left in the roadway of the bridge are commensurate with the dimensions of small passenger cars, which, for obvious reasons, does not allow the safe operation of this structure.
On the presented video frames, you can see that there really is no complete destruction of the Antonovsky Bridge, but the damage to this structure is colossal. Specialists draw attention to the fact that the strikes were carried out in such a way as to exclude the movement of any vehicles along the Antonovsky Bridge in the coming weeks, if not months, since not only the roadway was damaged, but also the reinforced concrete beams holding the roadway. According to experts, in order to restore the functioning of the bridge, it is necessary to replace the entire span – this can only be achieved with the availability of special equipment, however, in the conditions of regular shelling from the Armed Forces of Ukraine, it will be almost impossible to carry out prompt repairs of the bridge.
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Today, it is possible to get from the southern bank of the Dnieper to Kherson only via the bridge in Novaya Kakhovka, however, Ukrainian troops are also shelling this crossing across the Dnieper, which does not exclude the possibility that Kherson may be completely cut off by Ukrainian troops in the near future.
Authorities in the Russian-controlled Ukrainian city of Kherson have closed the city’s only bridge across the Dnipro river after it came under fire from U.S.-supplied high mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS), an official from the Russian-installed administration said on Wednesday.
The Antonivskyi bridge has been closed for civilians but its structural integrity has not suffered from the shelling, Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-imposed Kherson administration, told Interfax.
After the Armed Forces of Ukraine inflicted at least 8 strikes on the Antonovsky bridge across the Dnieper tonight, the first video footage of the damaged structure appeared, on which you can see that there is no collapse of the bridge yet, however, based on the statement of the administration of the Kherson region, the damage turned out to be so strong, that traffic on the bridge had to be closed – only specialists can deal with the restoration of the bridge.
Kherson bridge after Ukraine struck with 8 missile #UkraineWar #UkraineRussiaWar #RussiaUkraineWar #IndianArmy pic.twitter.com/I9CD1vLnrd
— The foxbat (@IndiandefenceNS) July 27, 2022
On the presented video frames, you can see that none of the sections of the bridge connecting the banks of the Dnieper collapsed, while all the bridge supports can be seen on the spot. Nevertheless, there are various damages to the bridge fence on the video frames, but due to the peculiarities of the shooting angle, it is impossible to see the full nature of the damage, although based on the night video frames of the shelling, there should be through holes in the bridge.
It is known that the film crew of the Zvezda TV channel was not allowed to enter the bridge without giving a reason, which does not allow obtaining objective data on the damage caused to the bridge, however, it is expected that within the next few hours satellite images will appear that will provide information about how serious the night shelling was and whether it will be possible to restore the bridge in the near future.
“Traffic on the bridge is blocked. Indeed, another HIMARS strike was launched during the night,” Stremousov said in remarks shared on his Telegram channel.
“We have provided for all things like this, and in fact there are several ferry crossings,” he added.
He told TASS news agency that a railway bridge upstream had also been damaged by missile strikes but that repair works were underway.
Ukraine is waging a counteroffensive aimed at recapturing the Kherson region from Russia. Nataliya Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukrainian forces, said in a TV interview on Wednesday that the military had taken care not to destroy the bridge.