In the Russian-occupied south of Ukraine, explosive devices bring down a busy road bridge. The day after, pictures from Melitopol confirm the destruction. One of the main overland supply routes to Crimea is disrupted.
Near Melitopol in southern Ukraine, a heavy explosion on Tuesday night interrupted an important artery: the road bridge between Melitpol and the neighboring suburb of Kostyantyn?vka was destroyed, observers from the Russian-occupied region reported.
The first images from the site of the explosion show the extent of the destruction. Apparently, the roadway of the M-14 link from Melitopol to the east has subsided by several tens of meters. The two-lane trunk road leads here on the outskirts of Melitopol over the Molotschna river and a parallel canal.
The M-14 trunk road runs from Melitopol in the direction of Berdyansk and further to Mariupol. The route is part of the Russian supply routes towards Crimea. The bridge appears to be badly damaged and is apparently only partially passable.
Should the Kostyantyn?vka Bridge not be repaired quickly, the Russian military columns and heavy equipment would have to accept major detours. In some places, the alternative route via Tokmak is only about 30 kilometers behind the front and would therefore be within range of Ukrainian artillery pieces.
Observers ruled out an attack from the air: at least two concrete pillars of the Kostyantyn?wka Bridge were apparently brought down by deliberately placed explosive devices. As a result, several segments of the road collapsed. Russian sources spoke of an “act of sabotage” early on. The force of the explosion appears to have been aimed specifically at supporting elements of the bridge.
The bridge was “damaged by terrorists,” said Vladimir Rogov, a representative of the Russian occupation administration. Melitopol is the main Russian-held city in Ukraine’s Zaporizhia region.
Rogow did not specify the extent of the damage, but circulated images showing a collapsed section of the bridge. According to Rogov, the bridge served to supply the Russian-occupied areas in the Cherson and Zaporizhia regions. Melitopol is located in the middle of the land corridor between Russia and the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, annexed by Moscow in 2014.
The Ukrainian general staff in Kiev has not yet commented on the incident. Russia blames Kyiv for numerous acts of sabotage far behind Russian front lines – most notably an explosion in early October that partially destroyed the bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia.
