I understood your use of the term "hanging bridge" as meaning is was a cable suspended deck aka suspension bridge. Of the two that were attacked recently one was a truss and the other a beam bridge looking at photos. Certainly its impractical to retention a trussed deck (for anyone else this is like how a guitar neck is tensioned with a bar running through it to balance the tension of the strings so the deck is straight) however.. If the supporting bridge columns are intact, there are numerous ways to patch the spans between them. HIMARS will make holes in the deck between columns and sure, the broken tension trusses will reduce overall load capacity but even if they struck a span from left to right so a section of deck fell into the river, this can be patched with an arch beam structure or even a floating arrangement. You take out these bridges by taking out columns ans/or by collapsing so many deck spans between them it's huge job. But it's a huge amount of ordinance. Maybe it was worth it to them, awaiting the before and after when it's out. Nobody is talking about a permanent proper first world repair to last years or even be safe, just getting equipment across.
Ukrainians making insensitive comments. Ukrainian official says Russians should 'learn how to swim' after Ukraine knocks out key river bridge with US-made rockets https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/worl...e-with-us-made-rockets/ar-AA1024Yo?li=BBnbcA1
Look who's running away... Russian Military Spotted Retreating From Ukraine Counter-Offensive—Video https://www.newsweek.com/russian-military-spotted-retreating-ukraine-counter-offensive-1728478 A video on social media appears to show a convoy of Russian military vehicles retreating from a Russian-held Kherson town south to the Crimean Peninsula, amid reports of a Ukraine counter-offensive on the strategic southern region. The video was posted on Telegram by Strana, a Russian-language news outlet in Ukraine. The footage is sped up to show how many Russian artillery vehicles are purportedly leaving the town. In 10 seconds, nine vehicles appear to drive by. A caption next to the video said: "In the captured Genichesk, columns of Russian equipment have been fixed since the morning. Local telegram channels report a convoy of 25 cars, which has not been observed before. It is also reported that since yesterday evening the columns have been moving in the direction of the Arabat Spit, that is, to the south, in the direction of Crimea." Russian forces have had to regroup in the eastern region of Donbas, where most of the fighting is taking place, but Ukraine's army has come back to Kherson with a counterattack. Ukraine's use of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) is reportedly playing a crucial role in the battle to retake Kherson. Ukraine's military has bombed three key bridges in the Kherson region. The Guardian reported Wednesday that video and witness accounts show up to 18 strikes on the Antonivskiy Bridge that crosses the Dnieper River, a key artery to the Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula for ammunition and supplies. The Ukrainian bridge detonations appear to be an attempt to isolate the city before taking it back from the Russians, who took it in early March, only days into the war. Videos on social media show rockets striking the key bridge. Nataliya Humenyuk, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian military's southern command confirmed the strikes in an attempt to "destroy the enemy's plans." On July 21, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted that the destruction of the Antonovsky bridge in Kherson by the Ukrainian army was a signal for Russian troops to retreat. "Antonivsky bridge – a relevant 'gesture of goodwill' for now that says it's time for Russian troops to leave Kherson voluntarily. Otherwise – face constant shelling, night terror, panic attacks and HIMARS. The range of possibilities is narrowing, along with the accuracy of Ukrainian artillery fire." Podolyak tweeted. Newsweek reached out to the Russian foreign ministry for comment. The HIMARs rocket system, provided to Ukraine by the United States, has been touted as a "gamechanger" by Western officials for its capacity to inflict serious damage on the Russian military. The rocket system, built by Lockheed Martin, is long-range, mobile and fires with precision, making it formidable on the battlefield.
The last sentence is on the money, self preservation will start to kick in towards Autumn and then watch Europe change its tune, mark my words, if Russia drags it out to Autumn, then Europe will have no choice but to abandon its support for Ukraine, not Ukraine but Zelensky and his backers. https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMN4PWy1H/?k=1
He is wrong that it can't be fixed up well enough to bring heavy vehicles over I'm confident. Even losing whole span is not an insurmountable problem. The problem for Russia is that they can do it again. It should be noted that the bridge has been hit three times. 19th, 20th and now 26th.
Just as an FYI, this is what that bridge looks like on a good day. As I said in a post earlier today, who is to say that they won't either intentionally or as collateral damage get one or more of the concrete abutments the next time they are in the neighborhood? They may have damaged some abutment sections already if they are under one of the blast areas on the deck.