We’ll use Western weapons to destroy bridge linking Russia to Crimea, threatens Ukraine general

A top Ukrainian general has threatened to use Western weapons to blow up a bridge linking mainland Russia to the occupied Crimea.

Maj Gen Dmytro Marchenko, who has been leading the defence of the Mykolaiv region in Ukraine’s south since the start of the war, told the Krym.Realii website on Wednesday night that Kyiv considered the 227-metre Kerch bridge a legitimate target.

“This will be our number one target,” he said when asked what Ukraine would do with the new advanced weapons it has been seeking from the West.

“We have to tear this umbilical cord to cut off (Russian) reinforcements. As soon as it’s done, (Russians) will panic.”

Many Western leaders have been wary of sending long-range artillery to Ukraine, fearing that Kyiv could launch retaliatory strikes against Russia, which could potentially spark an even bigger conflict.

US officials earlier this month announced a major shipment of multiple-launch rocket systems, saying that Kyiv had given assurances that it would not use those weapons against targets in Russia.

Russia has been using the £2.7 billion bridge it built over the Strait of Kerch after the annexation to bring in troops and weaponry to the Black Sea peninsula that served as a staging ground for the invasion of Ukraine’s south in the first week of the war.

Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesman, on Thursday insisted that the bridge was fully safe for passenger transport and was guarded by the Russian military's "preventive measures".

However, in response, Ukraine's military intelligence agency on Thursday evening released what appear to be full blueprints of the bridge.

The remarks by the Ukrainian general came a few hours before a much-anticipated visit by the leaders of Germany, France and Italy to Kyiv.

The Ukrainian government has been clamouring for help and more substantial weapons supplies as its officials said Russians currently have ten times the artillery in the battlefield in eastern Ukraine.

Separately, Ukraine’s defence minister admitted on Thursday that Kyiv could eventually use new weapons to reclaim Russia-occupied territory including Crimea.

“Crimea is a strategic objective for Ukraine because it’s Ukrainian territory,” he told CNN.

“But we will move step by step.”

Oleksii Reznikov remarks echo one of Vladimir Putin’s public aims in launching the invasion as he has claimed Ukraine has been plotting to recapture the Black Sea peninsula by force.