RUSSIA ACCUSES UKRAINE OF ATTACKING BRIDGE TO CRIMEA

Russian officials have accused Ukraine of attacking a bridge linking southern Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula with long-range British missiles.

The Russian-installed governor in occupied Kherson, Vladimir Saldo said the two parallel Chonhar bridges were both damaged but no one was hurt.

He said it was likely British Storm Shadow missiles were used in an attack which he claimed was “ordered by London”.

The bridge is the shortest route from Crimea to the front line in the south.

It is also an important link to the occupied city of Melitopol, which lies on the coastal route from the Russian border across southern Ukraine to Crimea.

Russia uses the road as a land bridge to Crimea and Melitopol is thought to be one of the targets of Ukraine’s counter-offensive, which began in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia earlier this month.

Russian forces seized the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 and then in February last year they invaded Ukraine’s southern coastal region too.

Ukraine’s offensive has made slow progress, claiming the recapture of eight villages so far.

Russian forces have continued to target Ukrainian cities including a residential area of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s home city and the southern port of Odesa overnight.