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Uriel Epshtein is the CEO of the Renew Democracy Initiative, which publishes The Next Move.
The first thing we see in Irpin is the bridge. Or, at least, what’s left of it.
Ukrainian forces destroyed the Romanivsky Bridge in the opening days of the war to halt the Russian advance toward Kyiv. Irpin, an affluent suburb, lay directly in the Russians’ path, making it a target in those first chaotic days of fighting.
Destroying bridges as a delaying move is a tactic that’s been around as long as there have been wars to fight and bridges to wreck.
But there’s something jarring about seeing the twisted metal and chunks of concrete here, in Irpin. This isn’t some remote outpost. It is a central artery connecting a wealthy suburb to the capital. Imagine the US Army sending the Key Bridge tumbling into the Potomac to stop an invader from crossing from Arlington into Washington, DC.
The Ukrainians, unwilling to let Russia rip out the heart of their nation, blew up the bridge almost immediately after the invasion began.
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