A key bridge in the Russian-controlled city of Kherson has been closed after it came under attack by U.S.-provided rockets, according to reports.
The Antonovsky bridge, the only bridge crossing the Dnieper River in Kherson, was bombarded by Ukrainian forces using U.S.-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems on Wednesday, according to Russian state media. Kirill Stremousov, deputy head of the Russian-appointed city administration, said the bridge has been closed to civilians as a result of the shelling but that its structural integrity has not been compromised.
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“Occupiers should learn how to swim across the Dnipro River. Or should leave Kherson while it is still possible. There may not be a third warning,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted on Wednesday, alluding to the reports of the strike.
Over the weekend, Zelensky announced that Ukrainian forces would stage counteroffensive operations to reclaim territory in southern Ukraine lost to Russia, such as the city of Kherson.
The Ukrainian president has said that since the arrival of HIMARS and similar systems from Germany and the United Kingdom, the balance of power has shifted on the battlefield.
The United States has provided Ukraine with 16 HIMARS launchers, some of which have yet to be deployed to the front lines, that have been used to strike key Russian command and control nodes.
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Ukraine’s effective use of the weapon system has reportedly raised “alarm in the Russian nationalist information space,” according to the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank.
Ukrainian defense leaders have asked the U.S. for dozens more HIMARS launchers.
