Ukrainian official says Russians should 'learn how to swim' after Ukraine knocks out key river bridge with US-made rockets

• A Ukrainian official said Russian troops should "learn how to swim" after striking a key bridge.
• The Antonivskyi Bridge was hit by artillery from US-made HIMARS on Tuesday, according to reports.

A top Ukrainian official suggested Russian troops should learn how to swim on Wednesday after Ukraine destroyed a key bridge in the occupied Kherson region using US-made weaponry.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, wrote on Twitter that Russian "occupiers should learn how to swim across the Dnipro River" after a strike on Antonivskyi bridge late Tuesday night.

He added that Russian troops "should leave Kherson while it is still possible. There may not be a third warning."

Moscow-backed local officials — installed by Russia after it captured the southern city of Kherson in the early days of the war — said Ukraine used US-made High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS) to strike the bridge on Tuesday, the Associated Press reported.

"Successful missile strikes on bridges over the Dnipro River by #UAarmy create an impossible dilemma for russian occupiers in #Kherson: retreat or be annihilated by #UAarmy. The choice is theirs," Ukraine's defense ministry tweeted on Wednesday.

The strike comes as Ukrainian troops continue to advance toward Kherson and launch counterattacks on Russian forces — efforts fueled by the powerful HIMARS from recent weapons deliveries. The long-range rocket systems have proven to be a significant factor in Ukraine's ability to counter Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region.

Russian forces had used the Antonivskyi Bridge — just east of downtown Kherson — as a way to supply its troops in Ukraine's occupied south, the AP reported.

UK intelligence said last weekend that it noted heavy fighting as Ukraine pushed toward Kherson, and warned that Russian supply lines were becoming "increasingly at risk" as Ukraine targeted the bridge in previous attacks.

If Russian forces become cut off in Kherson without a way to cross the Dnipro River, "it would be a significant military and political setback" for President Vladimir Putin's forces, UK intelligence said.