Ukrainian forces pile pressure on Russian-held Kerson

UKRAINIAN forces continue to pile pressure on Russian positions in occupied Kherson, targeting resupply routes across the Dnieper river as Kyiv inches closer to a full-scale assault to retake the strategic southern port city.

As many as 2,000 Russian draftees have poured into the Kherson region “to replenish losses and strengthen units on the front line”, according to Ukrainian army officials.

The Antonivskyi Bridge, which is on a main route from Crimea to Russian-held territories in southern Ukraine, was struck late on Thursday, said Natalia Humeniuk, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern operational command – but only after the 10pm local curfew, to avoid civilian casualties.

“We do not attack civilians and settlements,” Ms Humeniuk told Ukrainian television, after Kirill Stremousov, the Moscow-installed deputy chief of the regional administration, claimed that at least four civilians were killed as a result of Ukrainian strikes.

Mr Stremousov said the attack occurred some 40 minutes after the curfew’s start. A further 13 people suffered wounds, Kherson’s top health official Vadim Ilmiyev said.

Earlier, Ukrainian strikes had made the Antonivskyi Bridge inoperable, prompting Russian authorities to set up ferry crossings and pontoon bridges to ferry supplies to Russian troops in Kherson.