Ukraine Is 'Strangling Russian Forces' With Supply Line Strikes: Hertling

Ukrainian forces are "strangling" Russian supply lines by targeting infrastructure like the Kerch Strait Bridge, retired U.S. Lieutenant General Mark Hertling said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin blamed the Ukrainian military for an early morning attack on the bridge that connects the Crimean Peninsula to southern Russia, causing at least one portion of the span to collapse and prompting thousands of Russians to flee. Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack, but the explosion will likely impact Russia's ability to transport military supplies to its forces fighting in southern Ukraine.

But, according to Hertling, who spoke with CNN's Erica Hill on Monday night, the Kerch bridge is a strategic "military target" for Ukraine, which is weeks into its counteroffensive in an effort to reclaim Russian-occupied territory.

"This is not just a strike against a piece of infrastructure," Hertling said. "It is a strike against the capability of Russia to resupply their forces."

The Russian Military of Transport claimed on Monday that the explosion along the bridge did not impact rail traffic, and according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), rail traffic resumed hours later. However, the Washington, D.C.-based think tank wrote that Russian forces positioned in southern Ukraine "will likely suffer in the short and medium-term," and the explosion will likely exacerbate Moscow's inadequacies in the battle against Ukraine.

"What Ukraine is attempting to do is somewhat of a modern-day siege," Hertling continued on CNN. "They're attempting to strike as many logistics hubs, railroads, roads, local transport points, arms caches and fuel caches that the Russian army needs to conduct any kind of further operation or even to sustain themselves inside of Ukraine territory.

"What they're also doing is strangling the Russian forces by hitting all the things that you need for any kind of military operation," he continued. "The Russians, truthfully in my belief, are frozen somewhat in place and their defensive decision."

Crimea was illegally annexed by Putin in 2014, but Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said that the war in Ukraine cannot end until all of Ukraine—including the peninsula—is liberated. According to Dr. Scott Savitz, senior engineer at the RAND Corporation who spoke with Newsweek on Monday, the attacks on the bridge could "help to loosen Russia's grip on Crimea itself."

Randy Matt, former infantry officer in the U.S. Army, also tweeted Monday that the explosion of the bridge could cause complications for Russia's troops stationed nearby.

"The only supply route to Crimea is now through southern occupied Ukraine ... the Russian army in Crimea will be squeezed on supplies now and gradually face a crisis," Mott wrote.

Newsweek has reached out to the Russian Defense Ministry via email for comment.