Ukraine attacked Crimean bridge with ATACMS missiles in 2024, — NYT

Last year, Ukraine attacked the so-called Crimean Bridge with ATACMS long-range missiles, but failed to destroy it.

This is stated in a large article by The New York Times.

According to the publication’s sources, in August 2024, Ukraine made an unsuccessful attempt to destroy the Crimean Bridge, illegally built by the Russians. The Ukrainian side used ATACMS missiles for the attack, while US representatives allegedly insisted on using both missiles and naval drones.

In 2022, the Joe Biden administration opposed the attack on the facility. However, at the end of 2023, the US allegedly developed a “compromise plan” for Ukraine, Operation Lunar Hail, which provided for attacks on Crimea using long-range missiles and UAVs.

Then Biden ordered the US military and intelligence to secretly work on a plan for strikes together with the Ukrainians and the British. ATACMS missiles were supposed to weaken the vulnerable areas of the roadway on the Crimean Bridge, and naval drones were supposed to blow up the supports.

But while the drones were being prepared, the Russians strengthened the defenses around the bridge supports. Because of this, it was proposed to attack the object only with the help of missiles.

In mid-August 2024, Ukraine launched ATACMS at the bridge, but they only damaged it, leaving several “holes”.

However, cooperation within the framework of Lunar Hail was recognized as successful, as Russian ships, aircraft, command posts, weapons depots and other objects were destroyed or moved to the territory of the Russian Federation.

Photo: consequences of the Ukrainian attack on the Crimean Bridge in 2022, illustrative.

Also on March 30, The New York Times wrote about the negative reaction of the United States after Ukraine hit the missile cruiser “Moscow” on April 14, 2022.

But soon the NYT’s data on the destruction of the cruiser “Moskva” was denied by the Ukrainian Navy. The department has not yet commented on the publication’s information about the attacks on the Crimean bridge.