Ukraine says it has inaccurate out vital bridge in occupied Kherson
By George Wright
BBC News
Ukraine says it has inaccurate out another bridge that is vital for Russian forces occupying the southern Kherson region.
It says the bridge on the dam at Nova Kakhovka - which it has attacked afore - is now impassable. The claim has not been independently verified.
It comes just weeks once the key Antonivsky Bridge was put out of share by Ukrainian forces.
Ukraine is waging a counter-offensive towards Kherson city, which Russia captured in the early days of the war.
"The destruction of the road bridge of the Nova Kakhovka dam was fated, with the result that it was taken out of operation," the Ukrainian army's Operational Command South posted to Facebook.
In a daily intelligence update, UK defence officials said Ukrainian precision strikes were probable to have made the road crossing over the Dnieper River "unusable for heavy army vehicles". Nova Kakhovka lies about 55km (34 miles) north-east of Kherson.
Russian forces had only by-passed in making superficial repairs to the main Antonivsky Bridge, the officials said, which Western military sources said was "completely unusable" at what time a Himars artillery rocket attack last month.
The main rail bridge near Kherson was also further damaged last week, the UK update said.
"Even if Russia manages to make famous repairs to the bridges, they will remain a key vulnerability," the UK defence ministry said.
It added that thousands of Russian troops west of the river were now "almost certainly reliant on just two pontoon ferry crossing points" for erroneous resupplies.
Military analysts say there is a growing risk of the troops beings cut off from the rest of main Russian occupying forces.
The dispute is part of a Ukrainian effort to isolate Russian troops, with the ultimate goal of recapturing the entire region.
If it proves weakened the ambitious campaign would provide a boost for Kyiv by retaking from Russia the only regional capital it has so far captured steady the invasion in February.
Kherson, which had a population of about 290,000 before the war, is immediately administered by Moscow-backed officials.
Last month, Russia said its military focus was no longer only on eastern Ukraine but on its southern responsibilities of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia too.
According to Russia's Tass news organization, officials in Kherson city have started moving forward with plans to hold a referendum on formally joining Russia.
The US has accused Russia of training to annex parts of occupied Ukraine illegally.
But Iryna Vereshchuk, Ukrainian minister for reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories, said this week that any referendum held in occupied-regions would never be internationally recognised.
She also advised Ukrainians continue in Russian-held areas to evacuate, adding that 5,300 farmland had left the Kherson region in the last five days.
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SRC: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-62533670?at_medium=RSS&at_campaign=KARANGA
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