A bridge linking Crimea to Kherson region was damaged in a Ukrainian strike, local Russian authorities said Thursday.
“During the night, a strike hit the Chongar Bridge, but there were no casualties,” said the Russian governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, adding that authorities were conducting a survey of the damage.
In addition, Ukraine announced on Wednesday the return of three prisoners of war released by Russia and handed them over to Hungary, but criticized Budapest’s obstruction of the process.
Meanwhile, the European Union said it would seek explanations from bloc member Hungary on the issue.
Ukraine revealed earlier this week that Hungary is blocking entry to Ukrainian officials trying to communicate with 11 former prisoners of war handed over to Budapest by Moscow.
This incident adds more tension to the relationship between Ukraine and Hungary, which maintains its ties with Moscow despite the Russian invasion.
“I confirm that three former prisoners of war have been returned to Ukraine,” Ukrainian Ombudsman Dmytro Lubinets told state television.
He accused Hungary of “pimping” Russia by preventing it from communicating with some of the prisoners and carrying out the handover from Russia secretly.
“I interpret Hungary’s actions as a violation of international humanitarian law,” he added.
Hungary, however, denied preventing Ukraine from meeting former prisoners of war on its soil.
The European Union considered that any liberation of Ukrainian citizens must be carried out in coordination with Kiev.
“The Hungarian authorities must explain in detail the role they played in freeing Ukrainian citizens from Russia,” Peter Stano, foreign affairs spokesman for the European Union, told reporters in Brussels.
He added that the European Commission would ask the Hungarian authorities for more detailed information.
The Russian Orthodox Church reported earlier this month that a group of Ukrainians from Transcarpathia, which includes an ethnic Hungarian minority, had been extradited to Budapest.
The long-running dispute between Budapest and Kiev over the rights of the Hungarian minority in the Transcarpathian region has led Hungary to vow to block Ukraine’s accession to the European Union and NATO.
