At about 13:15, residents of occupied Nova Kakhovka, Kherson Oblast, reported explosions in the air as Russian air defenses tried to intercept some air targets. As of 14:30, the explosions continued.
“We were informed that after the explosions something smokes in the area of the hydroelectric power station,” a local Kherson Telegram channel wrote about 15:00, sharing footage of the pillar of smoke.
The area of the Kakhovka power plant has two key crossings strategically important for Russia to supply its grouping of forces west of the Dnipro river. Not only has that grouping been separated from the rest of the occupied territory by the Dnipro – Ukraine’s largest river, but it’s also split into two halves by the Inhulets river in the middle.
The Ukrainian rocket artillery units have severely damaged all the bridges available for Russia to supply its western forces. There are only four crossings across the Dnipro in the Russian-occupied area: the Antonivskyi bridge and its namesake railway bridge near occupied Kherson, and the vehicular and railway bridges over the lock canal near the Kakhovka power plant followed by the dam bridges at the hydroelectric power plant proper. The only bridge over the Inhulets available to Russia – Dariivskyi – has been damaged as well.
As Euromaidan Press reported earlier today, now Russia has been trying to restore the crossings over the lock near the Kakhovka plant:
Russian troops trying to restore crossing near Kakhovka power plant, satellite imagery shows
The Ukrainian afternoon attack could have targeted the lock bridges being repaired or the equipment used for repairs.
Read also:
Strategically important bridge near occupied Kherson again came under fire this morning
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Ukrainian forces confirm new strikes on 3 bridges in Kherson Oblast
Ukrainian forces hit again the bridge over Dnipro in Kahovka after Russians tried to repair it
