Ukraine is attacking the bridges connecting the Crimean peninsula with the Kherson region

Several bridges on the border between the annexed Crimea and the Kherson region, including that of Chongar, were seriously damaged this Thursday morning as a result of shelling from the Ukrainian side. According to preliminary data, the attack was used British-made rockets Storm shadow. The governor of the peninsula, Sergej Axiónov, appointed by the Kremlin, immediately reported what had happened. Chongar and Armiansk, further west, are the only ways out of Crimea via the road in the northern part. The third is in the east, across the Kerch Bridge, which was captured by Kievan troops in October.

For his part, the head appointed by Moscow in the occupied part of Kherson, Vladimir Saldo, said that the area the highway is “destroyed and useless” in some sections. from bridges. “Traffic is organized in a backup direction,” he added without clarifying what specific alternatives were involved and assured that “there were no victims.” A source from the Russian Ministry of Transport told RIA-Novosti that the repair of the Chongar bridge could take several weeks.

Kiev admitted responsibility for the attack. Ukrainian military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov assured in statements reported by various media that the destruction of the bridges connecting Crimea with the rest of Ukraine is part of the “systematic work of the security forces, the defense forces, the resistance movement and the local population, waiting for these territories to come back under control Ukrainian legal authorities.” “That’s what you can predict about what will happen later,” Yusov added to television cameras.

On Thursday, Russian media and Telegram channels published photos and videos of the Chongar Bridge with holes in the road caused by the missile explosion. Destroyed vehicles were also seen, although the Russian authorities defend that there were no casualties and that the cars were parked nearby and that the shock wave dragged them to the bridge.

a stone’s throw away

The Ukrainian army is currently conducting a counter-offensive in several directions, one of which is in Zaporozhye. The goal, as Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Maliar explained on Monday, is to break through Russian defenses and reach the Sea of ​​Azov, which would mean isolating the Kremlin’s troops deployed in the southern part of the Kherson region from most of them, who are also suffering the consequences of floods caused by the blasting of the Kajovka dam. . Maliar pointed out that the Kiev forces are advancing towards Berdjansk and Melitopol, a city from where Crimea would be within their reach.

The head of the Russian mercenaries of the Wagner group, Yevgeny Prigozhinhe once again complained on his Telegram that there is still a lack of ammunition in the Russian ranks and the bleeding of the dead continues. “One day we will wake up and Crimea has already been handed over to the Ukrainians. We can stay without the army and without Russia»he assured. Kiev has never hidden its intention to regain Crimea, although until now it has limited itself to bombardment with missiles and, above all, drones. The most spectacular attack took place on the Kerch Bridge, whose damage took months to repair, and railway traffic has not yet been fully established.

On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu warned that if Ukraine uses US Himars long-range missiles or Britain’s Storm Shadow missiles against Crimea, “it would mean that the United States and Britain are involved in the conflict and this would immediately lead to a decision” territory of Ukraine were the subject of attack” by Moscow forces, referring to the seats of political power (Presidency, Parliament, Government and ministries).

Russian President Vladimir Putin still believes that the Ukrainian counter-offensive is progressing slowly and without apparent success, but this Thursday, during a meeting of his Security Council, he admitted that the offensive capacity of Kiev’s troops “is not exhausted”. more» and will continue to increase their number in the coming weeks. According to Shojgu, “after 16 days of active advancement and suffering significant losses, the enemy has reduced its activity and is currently regrouping”.

However, the General Staff of the Ukrainian troops stated on its Facebook profile this Thursday that its units “continue to carry out offensive operations in three directions: Melitopol, Berdyansk and Liman (…) with partial successes” in the Donetsk region. And it is that, like the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, the Prime Minister, Denís Shmigal, also believes that the counter-offensive “will last”.

A threat to Zaporizhia

For his part, Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov described Zelensky’s warning as a “lie” on Thursday alleged Russian preparations for provocation at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, under the control of the Russian army since last March. “It’s another lie,” he said at his daily press conference, reports Efe.

Peskov recalled that the Russian side recently had “contacts with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the page». “We received a very high rating from the IAEA. They saw everything, everything they wanted to see,” he said.

The representative of the Kremlin added that a meeting between IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi and Director of the Russian Atomic Energy Agency Rosatom Alexei Likhachev is scheduled to take place this Friday in Kaliningrad, the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced. “Our dialogue and cooperation with the IAEA continues, we are interested in maintaining these contacts. The IAEA is also interested, everything else is lies,” he concluded.

This Thursday, Zelensky claimed to have received a report from Ukrainian intelligence that Russia was preparing a “terrorist act” at the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which would consist of causing a radiation leak.

The Ukrainian president pointed out that he had already informed the governments of “Europe, America, China, Brazil, India, the Arab world and Africa” ​​about the alleged Russian plans, as well as international organizations.

Zelensky called on the international community to act preemptively to avoid another disaster like the one caused by the recent collapse of the Kahovka dam in southern Ukraine, which Kiev blames on Russian forces and Moscow on the Ukrainian army.