Ukraine said it struck a major blow to Russia’s grip on the occupied Crimean peninsula, announcing the destruction of a key railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal in a series of strikes. The bridge is the “first one” to be eliminated, Kyiv’s troops said, Euronews reports.
A railway bridge over the North Crimean Canal near the village of Rozdolne “no longer exists,” Ukraine’s Special Operations Forces (SOF) said on Tuesday, describing it as the “first one” to be eliminated in occupied Crimea.
“Sorry, but we have an official urgent announcement: the railway bridge across the North Crimean Canal in Crimea no longer exists. The first one’s gone,” the SOF wrote in a statement posted on Threads.
The SOF later posted footage that appears to be the attack on the bridge.
“It formed part of a transport corridor used to move cargo, resources, and military supplies in two key directions: from Russia through Crimea to support forces operating in the southern direction," the SOF said.
The bridge lies on the rail artery that links the Kerch Strait crossing to the rest of the occupied peninsula and onward to Russian forces in the temporarily occupied territories of southern Ukraine, in the region of Kherson and along the coast of the Sea of Azov.
The strike on the bridge will further complicate Moscow’s efforts to move troops, ammunition and fuel by rail, the crucial backbone of Russia’s military logistics.
Notably, Ukraine's Special Operations Forces revealed that the operation was conducted in coordination with “underground members of the SOF resistance movement.”