Sept 24 (Reuters) - Russia struck the Pechenihy dam on the Siverskyi Donets River in northeast Ukraine this week using short-range ballistic missiles or similar weapons, the British military said on Saturday.

The attack on Sept. 21 and 22 followed an earlier one on the Karachunivske dam near Krivyi Rih in central Ukraine on Sept. 15, the Defence Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin, adding that Ukrainian forces are advancing further downstream along both rivers.

Russian commanders may be attempting to strike sluice gates of the dams in order to flood Ukrainian military crossing points, the ministry said in its bulletin released on Twitter.

The attacks are unlikely to have caused significant disruption to Ukrainian operations due to distance between damaged dams and combat zones, according to the ministry. (Reporting by Juby Babu in Bengaluru Editing by Frances Kerry)