For several days, the Defense Forces of Ukraine have been striking bridges on the roads leading from the temporarily occupied Crimea to the Kherson oblast with FP-2 and Behemoth strike UAVs. Many perceive this as an intention to completely destroy these bridges, but if you look at examples from the recent past, this turns out to be not such an easy task.
For example, we can recall how in June 2023, Storm Shadow cruise missiles flew over the Chonharsky bridges. Then these missiles just damaged the bridge support and made a large hole in the span. However, the bridge was never destroyed, and soon the Russian occupiers repaired it.
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A similar example can be recalled from the HIMARS MLRS, which in 2022 regularly shelled the Antonivskyi bridge, spending dozens of GMLRS rockets on it. But in the end, the bridge was not completely destroyed either. The occupiers themselves finally destroyed this bridge when they left the right bank of the Kherson region under the blows of the Ukrainian defense forces.
So the question may arise, if such powerful means failed to destroy the bridges, then what is the point of striking the bridges, which are the gateway to Crimea, with drone strikes. Here it is worth returning to the example of the Antonivskyi bridge.
The fact is that although it was not possible to destroy this bridge with HIMARS MLRS strikes, they made it unsuitable for the movement of heavy equipment. In order to transport armored vehicles and heavy vehicles, such as logistics trucks, across the Dnieper, the russians had to create pontoon crossings.
These pontoon crossings were also regularly damaged by the same HIMARS. Therefore, the logistical support of the troops on the right bank of the Kherson region was an extremely difficult task for the occupiers - so the russian units gradually lost their combat capability. It was thanks to this that in 2022 the Defense Forces of Ukraine were able to liberate the city of Kherson and the entire right bank of the Dnieper from the russian invaders.
The FP-2 and Behemoth UAVs, which are used to strike, cannot destroy the bridge, as their warheads simply do not have enough power to do this. However, these strike UAVs cause serious damage to the bridges and damage their structure.
As a result of such strikes, the bridges become unsuitable for the movement of any heavy equipment. Therefore, in order not to be left completely without logistics, the russians are building pontoon crossings for heavy equipment. However, these crossings are also very vulnerable to strikes.
In addition, the crossings have restrictions on the mass and speed of the equipment that can pass over them. All this leads to a slowdown in logistics, as well as creates multi-kilometer queues of trucks and lorries waiting to pass too.
This is exactly what is happening now in front of the Chongar bridges. It is certainly possible to rebuild bridges after strikes, but it takes a lot of time to manufacture and replace damaged spans. In order for the russians to not be able to rebuild the bridges, it is necessary to continue to inflict new strikes, as well as to increase the number of strikes on the trucks and other equipment that provide logistics for the occupation army.
From the Defense Express side, we urge readers to join a fundraiser for a solution that is already proving effective: the One United Fundraiser, organized by the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation to support interceptor drones.
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