Ukrainian forces have again damaged a key bridge linking Russian-controlled Crimea to mainland Ukraine using Western-supplied Storm Shadow missiles, according to a Russian-backed official in southern Ukraine.
Ukraine fired NATO Storm Shadow missiles at the Chonhar Bridge, which links the Russian-controlled Crimean peninsula with Ukraine's contested southern Kherson region, the Moscow-backed Kherson regional governor, Vladimir Saldo, said on Sunday.
"The enemy launched a missile strike in the area of the Chonhar bridge in the north of Crimea," Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed Crimea governor, said on Telegram.
Kyiv also targeted a bridge stretching across the nearby Henichesk Strait, firing a total of 12 missiles, Saldo said.
Of these, nine were intercepted by Russian air defenses, he said in a statement, adding that one civilian was wounded in the attack.
Traffic was stopped on both bridges, and there are "three holes" in the Chonhar Bridge, Saldo said.
Repair work has already begun, Aksyonov added.
Saldo then posted a series of images he said showed the aftermath of the strikes, with damage visible in the center of the road bridge. Although Newsweek could not independently verify these photographs, Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to Ukraine's interior ministry, posted similar images to social media that have circulated widely online.
After the shelling of Chonhar bridge in the temporarily occupied part of Kherson region. pic.twitter.com/7C8azQz1Wa
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) August 6, 2023
Unverified footage purportedly showing the strike's immediate aftermath and smoke around the bridge has also been shared by Ukrainian outlet, Ukrainska Pravda.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry has been contacted for comment via email.
Both Paris and London have provided the Anglo-French Storm Shadow, or SCALP, missiles to Ukraine in recent months. The long-range weapons give Kyiv the ability to strike hardened Russian targets at a greater distance.
Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 but Ukraine has reiterated promises to reclaim the territory from Moscow's control. Kyiv has previously targeted the Chonhar Bridge, along with the Kerch Bridge connecting mainland Russia to the peninsula.
Ukrainian officials claimed responsibility for strikes on the Chonhar Bridge in late July and in mid-June, which Saldo also blamed on Storm Shadow missiles.
Experts say Ukrainian strikes hone in on crucial Russian military bases and infrastructure. The Chonhar Bridge passes through northern Crimea, linking the Russian military logistics hub at Dzhankoi to Melitopol, a city in Ukraine's Zaporizhzhia region, which is occupied by Russian forces.
Dzhankoi was previously described by the British Defense Ministry as one of "the most important Russian military airfields in Crimea," as well as a "key road and rail junction" vital for supplying Russia's troops in southern Ukraine.
A Russian checkpoint at Dzhankoi was "temporarily suspended" following the strike, Russian state media reported.
