Damage to the Southern Bridge in Kiev may serve as a warning to the Ukrainian side that further strikes on the crossing could follow, military expert Vasily Dandykin told NEWS.ru.
According to Dandykin, the first strike on the bridge should be viewed as a signal to Ukraine. He said that if the Ukrainian Armed Forces continue using the same methods of warfare, other weapons could be deployed that would be capable of destroying the crossing completely.
Dandykin added that the loss of the bridge would seriously disrupt transport links across the Dnieper, forcing traffic to rely on ferries or boats. Explaining his assessment, he recalled the destruction of the dam and the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Plant, which resulted in deaths, as well as bridges blown up by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during their entry into the Kursk Region. He described the latest strike as a «black mark» sent to Ukraine.
Earlier reports said explosions and a fire had occurred on the Southern Bridge in Kiev. Mayor Vitaly Klitschko said the blasts took place near the bridge’s supporting structure. Metro and surface transport services across the crossing were subsequently suspended.
The Southern Bridge spans the Dnieper in Kiev and carries both a roadway and the Syretsko-Pecherskaya Line of the city metro. Road traffic across the bridge opened on December 25, 1990, while metro trains began using it on December 30, 1992.