Ukrainian forces continue to block several bridges that maintain land communication lines connecting the occupied Kherson region with Crimea. The head of the Kherson region's occupation forces, Volodymyr Saldo, said on June 11 that Ukrainian forces had struck several bridges connecting the occupied Kherson region with Crimea: a bridge over the Severo-Crimean Canal near occupied Preobrazhenka and Mirne; the Perekop-Armyansk road bridge; and the Stavki road bridge at night.
The Stavki, Mirne, and Armyansk bridges span the Severo-Crimean Canal and the M-17 Armyansk-Oleshki highway.
This is according to the "Institute for the Study of War" (ISW).
Saldo added that Ukrainian strikes on the bridges had caused unspecified damage. The commander of a Ukrainian regiment operating in the Kherson direction reported on June 11 that Ukrainian forces had struck a Russian logistics route to occupied Crimea via Armyansk, damaging or destroying about 50 Russian military cargo vehicles carrying fuel and ammunition.
The commander said that Russian forces had rerouted logistics to the Armyansk route following Ukrainian strikes on the night of June 7-8, and on June 9 damaged the Chongar bridge.
On June 9, Saldo temporarily closed traffic on the Chongar bridge due to damage from the strike.
The commander said that Ukrainian forces were able to strike in part thanks to previous Ukrainian strikes on Mariupol and the road to Berdyansk. The commander said that previous strikes had forced Russian forces to resupply the Khulyaypole direction using global military complexes (GMCs) from Crimea, rather than GMCs coming from the occupied Donetsk region. Geolocated and satellite imagery released on June 10 shows the aftermath of Ukrainian strikes on two bridges south of Genichesk and near Armyansk.
Russian forces are simultaneously struggling with a rising casualty rate that recently exceeded Russia’s recruitment rate in late 2025 and throughout 2026.
Russia is establishing new and expanding existing military bases along its northern border with NATO, likely to support future Russian force projection capabilities against NATO. However, ISW assesses that Russian forces are unlikely to conduct ground operations in the near future. Norwegian, Swedish and Danish broadcasters, as well as a Baltic news portal, reported on June 10 that satellite images show that Russian forces are building and expanding their military bases along the border with the Scandinavian and Baltic countries.
Danish intelligence officials and senior military officials told Danish broadcaster DR that Russian forces are preparing for conflict rather than showing signs that the Kremlin has made a confirmed decision to start a war, especially since the majority of Russian forces are still fighting in Ukraine.
Former Finnish intelligence officer Marko Eklund told DR that the Russian command plans to deploy around 115,000 troops on NATO's northern border after the war in Ukraine ends and that Russian forces have begun construction of a new base in Nova Vilza near Petrozavodsk (approximately 190 kilometers from the Finnish border), the Republic of Karelia, which will accommodate between 4,000 and 6,000 personnel.