Three bridges over roads leading into the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk were destroyed on Monday by explosions, blocking key access routes to the rebel-held city.
An Associated Press reporter saw one collapsed bridge in the village of Novobakhmutivka, where a rail line crosses over a highway leading out of Donetsk.
The road leads towards Slovyansk, a former stronghold of the pro-Russian insurgents that was retaken by Ukrainian troops on Saturday after a night of intense fighting.
Two other bridges on roads leading from Slovyansk to Donetsk were also destroyed on Monday in the villages of Zakitne and Seleznevka, the Road Transportation Agency of Donetsk Region announced in a statement.
Rebel fighters from Slovyansk and other towns taken over by the Ukrainian army regrouped Sunday in Donetsk, a city of 1 million and the capital of a region where pro-Russian separatists have declared independence as the Donetsk People's Republic.
The bridges' destruction may be an attempt by the rebels to buy time and slow down any assault by Ukrainian forces on the city.
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