War on the southern front: According to the Ukrainian army, an important bridge is no longer passable for Russian troops

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Ukrainian artillerymen (icon image)

Photo: Evgeniy Maloletka / AP

In southern Ukraine, the car bridge of the Nowa Kakhovka dam in the Cherson region is no longer open to traffic, according to Ukrainian information.

The Ukrainian Army Command South announced on Facebook that the bridge had been deliberately rendered unusable by rocket and artillery units.

The administration of the Russian occupiers confirmed the shelling.

At the same time, she warned of damage to the dam wall, which could lead to a catastrophe.

The information could not be checked independently.

According to the operators, the output of the connected hydroelectric power station has been reduced to emergency operation.

"We are working in a very dangerous mode," said the power plant's deputy chief Arsenyy Zelenskyy, according to the Russian state news agency TASS.

The state television channel RT reported regular shelling of the bridge over the ship canal and the dam itself.

At the beginning of the war of aggression against the neighboring country at the end of February, Russia had largely conquered the southern Ukrainian region of Cherson on the lower reaches of the Dnieper River.

Using long-range missile systems, the Ukrainian army is working to destroy the only three river crossings there.

This is intended to prevent the Russian army from being replenished on the right bank and to enable recapture.

The Ukrainians had previously rendered the railway bridge and the road bridge at Cherson unusable.

Therefore, the Russian troops built a ferry service for civilians across the river, which is about one kilometer wide, and according to reports also several pontoon bridges for the military.

According to the British secret service, the attacks on the river crossings are causing difficulties for the Russian troops on the west bank of the Dnieper.

Even if Russia did manage to repair the bridges on a large scale, they would remain a significant weak point.

"The supplies for the thousands of Russian soldiers on the west bank almost certainly depend on the two pontoon bridges," said the British Ministry of Defense.

Russia claims to have conquered the Donetsk suburb – Ukrainians disagree

The Ukrainian military contradicts Russian claims about the alleged capture of the village of Pisky on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

Fierce fighting continues there, the Ukrainian general staff said.

"The occupiers are trying to break through the defensive lines of our troops in the direction of Oleksandropol, Krasnohorivka, Avdiyvka, Mariinka and Pisky," it says.

Russian forces had previously claimed the capture of the village of Pisky on the outskirts of the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk.

The Russian news agency Interfax quoted the Ministry of Defense in Moscow as saying that they had taken full control of the Pisky suburb.

A week ago, Russian and pro-Russian forces announced that they had taken complete control of the village.

After capturing the Luhansk region, Russia is trying to capture the neighboring Donetsk region as well.

Both regions form the Donbass, which is the center of the Ukrainian coal and steel industry.

asa/dpa/Reuters