Posted on 07/23/2022 3:08:55 PM PDT by Dr. Franklin
It was apparent months ago that the Kremlin’s intensive focus on Donbas risked creating vulnerabilities elsewhere. At the peak of the fighting in Donbas in early July, three-quarters of the Russian army’s roughly 110 front-line battalions in Ukraine were in Donbas. Just a handful of battalions defended Russian gains in and around Kherson.
The Ukrainian army also concentrated its best forces in Donbas, of course—but not at the expense of the southern front. In late May, Ukrainian troops began pushing south toward Kherson, then 40 or so miles from the line of contact.
Two months later, Kyiv’s southern counteroffensive has pushed to within 15 miles of Kherson’s northernmost neighborhoods. A parallel Ukrainian effort farther east established a lodgement south of the Inhulets River outside Davydiv Brid.
The Ukrainians didn’t move quickly. And there’s no reason to believe they recently surrounded as many as 2,000 Russian troops in Vysokopillya.
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The Dnieper is a problem for Russian logisticians. The best and most efficient way to move troops and supplies into Kherson and areas north of Kherson is across a pair of bridges spanning the river near the city. “Control of Dnieper crossings is likely to become a key factor in the outcome of fighting in the region,” the U.K. Defense Ministry stated.
On Tuesday, Ukrainian forces—artillery or rockets, most likely—struck the Antonovskiy Bridge, damaging but not dropping the span.
“They haven’t destroyed them yet,” Mike Martin, a fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, wrote in reference to the Dnieper bridges. “They’ve just cratered them, making them unsuitable for heavy logistics. But if I were a Russian soldier in Kherson, I would be pretty scared right now.”
(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...
The other interesting tidbit of news is that the Ukies reportedly shot down a Russian air force Su-35 fighter over Nova Kakhovka with a S-300 missile. That is claimed to have occurred on the southern bank of the Dnieper, 50 miles east of Kherson and 35 miles south of the Inhulets.
Slowly but surely the Ukies intend to retake Kherson.
Ukraine ping!
The other critical bridge is the road over the dam near Nova Kohota which is supposedly impassable by all but light trucks and cars. The rail road line is apparently still intact.
Do most of the people of Kherson want to be Ukrainians, or Russians?
The number 1 requirement of artillery is to keep it fed. No ammo, no artillery. No artillery, no defense.
ATGMs, SAMs and ASGMs have returned the battlefield to WWI. The King of Battle still reigns supreme.
Not going to happen.
It’s a good question, but I don’t think anyone can get in there to find out—at least an honest assessment.
It’s already happening.
“… The Antonovskiy Bridge near Kherson has been cratered but not destroyed. That suggests the Ukies don’t want to drop the bridge because they may need it later.…”
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I’ve seen videos of the recent damage to that bridge. There were quite a few precise strikes on the deck of the bridge. With near certainty the Ukrainians used HIMARS system(s) to make those strikes. The damage appeared to be limited to the bridge’s deck (their was no span that was dropped). While the HIMARS has great accuracy it has a relatively small “warhead” in its shells so that limited damage would be expected. The videos showed vehicular traffic continued but I’m sure the Russians would not want to place the heavy weight of a tank or ammunition truck on it.
Russia put their worst troops to occupy and now defend Kherson. Ethnics who hate each other and are fighting with each other. Buryats, Chechens, Dagestanis, Syrians, DNR conscripts, Rosgardia, FSB. A mess. Now Rosgardia have left the city while FSB is in a panic. And the ethnics are looting and trying to figure out how to escape without being shot in the back by Chechens.
Agree. When you see worlds like “appear” in the title of the article you know it is propaganda.
When you see worlds like “appear” in the title of the article you know it is propaganda.
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That, and odd sentences such as...
‘The Ukrainians didn’t move quickly. And there’s no reason to believe they recently surrounded as many as 2,000 Russian troops in Vysokopillya.”
And Putin’s best troops in the Kherson region are the ones trapped in Vysokopillya. After they surrender, the rout is on.
It’s not easy to take down a whole bridge section with artillery, because a direct hit with an extremely destructive round on a transom and piers would be necessary and likely along with destruction of an abutment. It’s most easily done manually with explosives.
It’s most easily done manually with explosives.
fun trumps easy.
If they crater it enough, especially on a transom, it might be unsuitable afterwards for heavy loads like heavy tanks and self-propelled artillery.
Thank you for the good news! Cheers to the Ukies fighting off the scumbag Russians!
The Russian surrender in Vysokopillya and panic retreat from Kherson will be more humiliating for Putin than the sinking of the Moskva. The Russian troops in Vysokopillya were the best ones and Putin personally sent them to invade Krivoy Rih, the home town of Zelensky. They were never meant to defend Kherson. Now they’re toast. And they know it.
You know the idiot Russians also shot down a Russian Su-35, right?
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