Home › Security › Did Ukraine's strikes on Crimea links change the picture?
Did Ukraine's strikes on Crimea links change the picture?
Summary
A look back at the days around 9 August 2023, when attacks on Russian ships and bridges coincided with a deadly missile strike on Zaporizhzhia.
What was happening around 9 August 2023, as Ukraine's counteroffensive continued? The reported events of that day and the days before it show pressure on Russian-held logistics in the south and continued Russian strikes on Ukrainian cities.
On 9 August 2023, a Russian missile strike hit a residential area in Zaporizhzhia. At least two people were killed and seven others were injured.
A week of strikes on ships and bridges
The days before were marked by attacks on Russian naval and transport targets. On 4 August, a Ukrainian naval drone attack damaged the Russian landing ship Olenegorsky Gornyak at the naval base at the Port of Novorossiysk, in Krasnodar Krai.
On 5 August, Ukraine said it had damaged the Russian tanker Sig in a naval drone attack in the Black Sea near the Crimean Bridge.
On 6 August, a missile fired by the Armed Forces of Ukraine damaged a bridge over the Chonhar Strait. The bridge connects the Russian-occupied part of Kherson Oblast with Crimea.
Reading the pattern
Taken together, the reports describe attacks on a warship at a Russian port, a tanker near the Crimean Bridge and a road link between occupied Kherson Oblast and Crimea, all within about three days. The targets were a naval base, a vessel and a bridge, and the weapons included naval drones and a missile.
The strike on Zaporizhzhia on 9 August 2023 showed the other side of the same period: civilians in a residential area were among those hit by Russian missiles, with casualties reported on the day.
