“They are trying to destroy the bridge, probably with Himars,” said the reporter after stopping briefly on the bridge to point out the damage before speeding off. “We’re getting out of here.”
Later photos showed the bridge snapped in two with the middle section jutting out of the river below.
The Baza Telegram channel, which has links to the Russian security forces, confirmed that the bridge had been destroyed by Ukrainian Himars and said that a second bridge a few miles downstream was now being targeted.
On Friday, Oleskander Syrsky, Ukraine’s top general, said that his army’s forces had advanced up to three kilometres further into enemy territory.
The Kremlin has responded to the first invasion of Russia since the Second World War, launched 11 days ago, by rushing troops, tanks and armoured vehicles to the border region.
On Friday, Nikolai Patrushev, a key adviser to Vladimir Putin, blamed the West for the Ukraine attack which he said “had been planned with the participation of Nato special forces”.
British Challenger II tanks and other Western equipment have been used in the attack but Britain has refused to give Ukraine permission to use its Storm Shadow missiles to strike targets further inside Russia.