Russia 'Humiliated' by Ukraine, U.S. HIMARS Around Kherson: U.K. Author

Russian forces have been "publicly humiliated" by Ukraine's use of U.S-supplied High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) in Kherson, according to author Louise Mensch.

Two key bridges into the Russian-occupied city of Kherson—which Kyiv has been working to retake—were heavily damaged by strikes on Wednesday, the British Ministry of Defence said.

Ukrainian authorities reported on Saturday that the last working bridge over the river in the country's southern region had been damaged, further crippling Russian supply lines, according to The Associated Press.

Mensch, a former Conservative member of Britain's parliament, described it as "the greatest tactical success in modern military history."

Russian forces were "successfully baited into a giant motti, forced to run away," Mensch said. Newsweek could not independently verify whether any Russian forces had retreated.

Alongside a video that apparently captured a HIMARS strike on the Antonivsky road bridge, Mensch wrote: "Not only is this beautiful, accurate fire, and a total failure of @MOD_Russia air defense, it's clear @DefenceU are taking no chances and ensuring the Antonovsky bridge remains inoperable."

She could not immediately be contacted for further comment. Russian and Ukrainian officials have been contacted for comment.

In Saturday's update, British defense officials said the two "primary road bridges giving access to the pocket of Russian occupied territory on the west bank of the Dnipro in Kherson Oblast are now probably out of use for the purposes of substantial military resupply."

The update said Russia had only made "superficial repairs" to the Antonivsky bridge, which "likely remains structurally undermined."

A main rail bridge near Kherson was "further damaged" last week, according to the update.

"Even if Russia manages to make significant repairs to the bridges, they will remain a key vulnerability," it said.

"Ground resupply for the several thousand Russian troops on the west bank is almost certainly reliant on just two pontoon ferry crossing points."

That means the size of any stockpiles Russia has managed to establish on the river's west bank "is likely to be a key factor in the force's endurance."

Meanwhile, Russian forces on Sunday fired rockets on the Mykolaiv region in southern Ukraine, killing at least one person.

Concern is also growing about the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe's largest, which has been hit by shelling.

Each side has blamed the other for the shelling, which has raised alarm about the potential for a nuclear catastrophe.

Mikhail Ulyanov, Russia's envoy to international organizations based in Vienna, called on Ukraine to stop attacking the plant in order to allow an inspection mission from the International Atomic Energy Agency.

"It is important that the Ukrainians stop their shelling of the station and provide security guarantees to members of the mission," he said, according to Russian state news agency Tass. "An international team cannot be sent to work under continuous artillery shelling."

On Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the Telegram messaging platform that every day the plant is occupied by Russian forces "increased the radiation threat to Europe so much that even at the peak moments of the confrontation during the Cold War, this did not happen."

Zelensky said Ukrainian diplomats and representatives from allied nations will "do everything to ensure that the new sanctions against Russia necessarily block the Russian nuclear industry."