The bridge attack prompted fears that Russians are planning to retake Kherson. Russia seized the city of 300,000 in the early days of its full-scale attack on Ukraine in 2022, but was driven out later that year.
Holding the city, located on the far side of the massive Dnipro River from its main forces, proved to be very difficult for Russia, and any returning forces would face the same challenges.
“An attempt to land troops in the Korabel area after the bridge was destroyed looks like suicide — it will be difficult to expand the bridgehead and hold it. The Dnipro is a serious obstacle. It would be a kill zone,” said Mykola Bielieskov, research fellow at the Ukrainian National Institute for Strategic Studies.
The damage and even destruction of the bridge will not have a significant effect on the Ukrainian army’s ability to protect Kherson, said Colonel Vladyslav Voloshyn, spokesperson for Ukraine’s southern army command.
“The Dnipro delta is under the control of the Defense Forces of Ukraine. So, to get to the Korabel district, Russians would need to pass several islands, several straits, and the main river, and only after that land on the shore,” Voloshyn said, adding that Ukrainian forces have rebuffed all previous Russian attempts to seize islands in the Dnipro River.
Russian forces in the area have regrouped. “They are everywhere, trying to land troops almost on every island,” Voloshyn said, but added: “We detect those who try and strike and drown them in the river.”