Russian Troops Deploy Pontoon Bridge Near Chonhar After Ukrainian Strikes

The Russian military has deployed a pontoon bridge in the Chonhar area after a Ukrainian strike damaged a fixed crossing.

This is evidenced by satellite images published by Radio Liberty, showing a new pontoon structure next to the Kherson Bridge, an auxiliary crossing to the Chonhar Bridge, which connects the occupied Kherson region with annexed Crimea.

According to satellite monitoring, the pontoon bridge appeared on June 7 following a Ukrainian strike carried out on the night of Sunday.

Previously, Russian forces had already used a pontoon bridge in this area. A similar measure was taken in June 2023 after Storm Shadow missiles damaged the Kherson Bridge.

After those events, pontoon structures remained under the main crossing as a backup element of the infrastructure.

However, until the latest Ukrainian strikes, Russian forces had not moved the pontoons or used them for traffic.

On June 9, 2026, Volodymyr Saldo, Russia-appointed head of the occupied part of the Kherson region, reported new damage to a bridge near the village of Chonhar.

According to him, the crossing connecting the Kherson region with Crimea was destroyed in a second consecutive Ukrainian strike.

At the same time, Saldo did not specify whether he meant the original Chonhar Bridge or its backup crossing, which was damaged during the June 7 strike.

The target of the attack was again the wider “northern” bridge.

On June 10, 2026, the Russian occupation administration of the Kherson region also reported damage to one of the bridges leading from Henichesk to the Arabat Spit.

Due to the damage, traffic at the crossing was organized in reverse. Russian forces use the route through Henichesk and the Arabat Spit as one of the key alternative routes for supplying their grouping in southern Ukraine and transferring forces from Crimea.