Crimea Bridge Targeted in ATACMS Strike: Russia

Ukraine attacked a bridge linking Crimea with Russia using 12 ATACMS missiles, the Russian Defense Ministry has said.

The weapons were reportedly launched on the legally constructed Crimean (Kerch) Bridge on the night of August 15 to 16, the Kremlin-aligned news agency RIA Novosti said.

Traffic had to be suspended on the car and rail bridge between 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m., according to the local Telegram channel Crimean Wind.

Russia built the bridge across the Kerch Strait between 2016 and 2018, after it annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Ukraine has long seen the bridge as a legitimate target, with its foreign ministry saying when it opened: “The construction of the Kerch Bridge is another illegal act by the Russian Federation aimed at consolidating the illegal occupation of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea.”

Kyiv has not yet said anything about the attack. Newsweek has contacted the Ukrainian Department of Defense for confirmation and comment.

Ukraine Attacks Bridge in Kursk Region

Ukraine also reportedly attacked a second bridge in the Kursk region, as it continues its cross-border military offensive.

Moscow believes the weapons Ukraine used for the attack were likely supplied by the U.S. A spokesperson for the Russian foreign ministry, Maria Zakharova, said on her Telegram channel: “For the first time, the Kursk region was attacked by Western-made rockets, probably American HIMARS.

“As a result of the attack on the bridge over the Seim River in the Glushkovsky district, it was completely destroyed, and volunteers who provided assistance to the evacuated civilian population were killed.”

Ukrainian Air Force commander Mykola Oleshchuk shared a clip on his Telegram channel of a bridge being targeted by Ukrainian pilots using “high-precision strikes against enemy strongholds.”

The dramatic clip shows part of the bridge exploding before a thick plume of smoke rises into the air and clearing to reveal a major gap in the bridge.

Ukraine launched its surprise incursion into Russian territory on August 6, marking the first time Russia has been invaded by a foreign power since World War II.

On Tuesday, General Christopher Cavoli, who currently serves as the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said Russia has had a “rather slow and scattered reaction” to the offensive.

He told an event hosted by the Council on Foreign Relations: “Russia does not establish who has authority. The Ministry of Defense is responsible for military operations inside Ukraine, but not inside Russia, right?”

On Thursday, Russian Defense Minister Andrei Belousov announced the creation of a “coordination council” within the Russian Ministry of Defense for the Belgorod, Bryansk, and Kursk oblasts.

Writing on Telegram, the minister said this would “increase the efficiency of comprehensive support for troop groups that are solving the tasks of covering the state border and protecting the territory and population of the regions.”