BRIDGE BLITZ
Ukraine blasts TWO key bridges to Crimea with ‘Brit Storm Shadow missiles’ in major blow to Putin’s weapon supply route
UKRAINE has reportedly unleashed a Storm Shadow missile strike on two key bridges leading into Russian-occupied Crimea this afternoon.
A thick cloud of smoke was seen rising above the Chonhar bridge, while Henichesk bridge was allegedly on fire following the strike, Russian authorities said.
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Local media reported that three or four hits landed on the Chonhar bridge, which is a major Russian supply route to bring weapons and troops to the frontlines in Ukraine.
The Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, stated that the bridge had been damaged - but the extent of the damage is not currently known.
Ukraine previously struck the same bridge - which is the main link between annexed Crimea and Russian-occupied Kherson - in June.
Volodymyr Saldo, the Russian-installed governor of Kherson, reported that "Nato's Storm Shadow missiles" were responsible for the the strikes on both bridges.
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He added that a second key bridge, Henichesk, was hit which connects the town of Henichesk with the narrow Arabat Spit on Crimea's northeast coast
Saldo alleged that a civilian driver had been wounded and a gas pipeline next to the bridge had been damaged.
"More than 20,000 city residents were left without gas supply," he stated.
Ukrainian attacks are making it increasingly hard to get on and off the peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014.
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It's an area of both military importance to Moscow as well as a popular tourist destination for Russians.
It comes only hours after Russia launched a wave of missile and drone attacks on a Ukrainian airbase reportedly housing UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles.
A three-wave attack saw explosions near the Starokonstantinov airbase and fires raging in Ukraine’s Khmelnytskyi region.
The attack coincided with the Ukraine's Air Force day, while Kyiv slammed Russia for its alleged bombing of a blood transfusion centre near the front line overnight.
Russia has previously admitted how Britain's Storm Shadow rockets are a nightmare for their battlefield plans.
The bunker-busting cruise missiles are dodging their air defence systems and helping Ukraine in its counter-offensive.
Yevgeniy Balitsky, Kremlin-appointed governor in occupied Zaporizhzhia, has previously conceded that the weapons “certainly give us trouble”.
He added: “We’ve somehow learned how to shoot down US-supplied HIMARS, but our air defence is having a hard time against Storm Shadow.
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"It flies at different speeds, at varying altitudes, changing modes.”
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