Ukrainians “humorously” demolished the bridge that the Russians took five months to build - Forbes
Date: 2024-01-09 Author: Кирило Загоруйко Categories: WAR
This weekend, Ukrainian soldiers used missiles to destroy a railway bridge that the Russian occupiers were building south of Granitne, just north of the Azov Sea coast.
According to Forbes, this is one of the biggest events in recent months, in a brutal war where logistics play a crucial role. Both sides do not talk about this operation publicly.
Ax notes that the missiles destroyed the bridge over the Kalmius River. Consequently, Ukraine thwarted Russian efforts to improve its supply lines between Crimea and the South.
“The Ukrainians have punched a hole in a major Russian logistics initiative and delayed almost six months of planning for Russian supplies,” wrote Stefan Korsha, senior defense correspondent for the Kyiv Post.
The Russian military has three options for moving large amounts of supplies from Russia to the occupying forces in southern Ukraine: by ship to Crimea, by road and rail across the Kerch Bridge directly into Crimea, and by rail through southeastern Ukraine.
The Ukrainians have attacked all three main supply lines since the invasion began in February 2022. Ukrainian missiles and unmanned boats have damaged or sunk most of the Russian fleet's landing ships and made Crimean ports very dangerous for surviving ships. Ukrainian bombs and missiles have repeatedly destroyed the Kerch Bridge.
And the main land railway turns north towards the front line and is within range of Ukrainian howitzers. Ukrainian artillerymen have no problem hitting passing trains or the railway tracks themselves.
These attacks prompted the Russians to begin construction of a fourth supply line, a coastal railway that, while still in range of Ukrainian missiles, artillery and deep-impact munitions, would at least get trains out of the way of howitzer barriers. But this new railway was supposed to cross the Kalmius River south through Granitnoye.
Russian engineers began building the bridge in September 2023. Construction was nearing completion when Ukrainian missiles demolished it. The attack was carried out using M30/31 GPS-guided missiles fired from HIMARS.
“Those of you who are biased against the Kremlin may even see the Ukrainian sense of humor in waiting a full five months from the start of bridge construction before destroying the bridge,” Korsha writes.
The publication notes that every attack on Russian supply lines in the southern part of Ukraine starves Russian regiments and brigades. It also explains why thousands of Russian troops in the southern Kherson region are still unable to destroy a bridgehead on the left bank of the Dnieper, which is held by only a few hundred Ukrainian marines.
