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Heavy fighting continues to rage in the southern region of Kherson as Ukrainian forces increasingly rely on US missile systems to fight with Russian troops across a critical bridge, Britain’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday.
The Antonovsky Bridge, which crosses the Dnieper River, serves as a key strategic objective for Ukraine’s defenses as it connects the Russian army in Kherson with the occupied territories off the Crimean peninsula.
A picture taken on July 21, 2022 shows craters on Kherson’s Antonovsky Bridge over the Dnieper River caused by a Ukrainian missile attack during ongoing Russian military action in Ukraine. (Stringer/AFP via Getty Images)
The Ukrainian Armed Forces have relied heavily on a US-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), which allows them to use multiple rocket launches effectively. The system damaged the bridge earlier this week.
“If the Dnieper crossings were denied and Russian forces cut off in occupied Kherson, it would be a major military and political setback for Russia,” the British ministry said.
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But British defense officials said on Saturday they believed Russia had made repairs to the vital bridge by Friday and that “some traffic” could pass.
“Heavy fighting has been taking place over the past 48 hours as Ukrainian forces have continued their attacks on Russian forces in Kherson Oblast, west of the Dnieper River,” the ministry said in an intelligence update. “Russian forces’ supply lines west of the Dnieper are increasingly threatened.”
A pier on the Dnieper River in Kherson, Ukraine, January 20, 2022. (Christopher Occhicone/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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The Defense Ministry said it had heard claims from Ukrainian officials that Russian troops might try to build a “pontoon bridge” across the Dnieper to avoid damage to the main thoroughfare, but intelligence officials said they could not verify those claims.
“The Russian army is prioritizing maintaining its military bridging capability, but any attempt to build a crossing of the Dnieper would be a very high-risk operation,” the ministry said.
US-supplied HIMARS have proven effective along the Ukrainian front, capable of launching missiles up to 50 miles. Some of those missiles have hit several Russian arms depots, a Ukrainian defense official confirmed to Fox News Digital.
Russia boasted its ability to counter US HIMARS on Thursday, claiming it launched 12 missiles over the Antonivka Bridge.
U.S. Army soldiers fire an M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket System at Fort Greely, Alaska, in October. (US Air Force)
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“You shouldn’t be afraid [of HIMARS], one should fight against it. It’s not a panacea, it’s one of the weapons the enemy is using now,” Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of Russia’s State Duma Defense Committee, told Russian media.
“The system is serious, but there is a countermeasure – our air defenses.”
Caitlin McFall is a reporter at Fox News Digital. You can reach her at [email protected] or @ctlnmcfall on Twitter.