A Russian military barge has been destroyed, while an attempt to restore a crossing over the Dnipro River has been thwarted, according to the Ukrainian military.
Ukraine's Operational Command South (OCS) said in a Facebook post on Monday that the military had dashed Russian hopes "of establishing a connection between the banks" of the Dnipro by attacking the barge and stopping "attempts of the occupiers to restore the carrying capacity of the bridge in Nova Kakhovka," which is located in Ukraine's southern Kherson region. Ukraine has repeatedly targeted and destroyed bridges over the river in recent months, cutting off a crucial supply path for the Russian military.
Among 250 Ukrainian missile and artillery attacks, OCS said that four ammunition warehouses and four stores of Russian weapons and military equipment were hit. In addition to killing 77 Russian troops, Monday's attacks reportedly resulted in the destruction of six Russian tanks, five howitzers, 14 armored vehicles and three Pantsir missile systems.
A Russian Orlan-10 drone was destroyed in a Ukrainian airstrike in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, according to OCS, while three Iranian-built "Shahed-136" kamikaze drones were taken out during a Russian attack on southwestern port city Odesa. Ukraine reported destroying several units of the Shahed-136 drones last week.
The destruction of a different Russian barge attempting to carry weapons, military equipment and troops over the Dnipro River near Nova Kakhovka was also reported by Ukraine last week. OCS said that the "barge loaded with weapons, equipment and personnel, after being hit by fire, replenished the occupiers' underwater fleet."
Nataliya Humenyuk, head of the joint press center of Ukrainian Defense Forces of the South, said during an appearance on the Ukrainian parliament's television channel last week that a massive counteroffensive had caused Russian forces to become "sandwiched" between the Ukrainian military and the Dnipro.
"The fire control that we maintain over crossings and transport arteries across the Dnipro makes them understand that they are sandwiched between the defense forces and the right bank—units that are in this part of the Kherson region," she said, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.
Continued Ukrainian efforts to block any attempts to repair damaged bridges over the Dnipro or to create new river crossings have dealt a serious blow to the Russian war effort across southern Ukraine.
Some of the Russian troops trapped on the wrong side of the river have reportedly taken extraordinary measures to retreat from the oncoming Ukrainian attack.
Ukrainian military intelligence said earlier this month that Russians were using civilian motorboats "stolen from nearby settlements" in desperate attempts to cross the river, according to The New Voice of Ukraine.
Newsweek reached out to the Russian government for comment.
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Aila Slisco is a Newsweek night reporter based in New York. Her focus is on reporting national politics, where she ... Read more
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