The attack on the bridge across the Dnieper provoked alarming sentiments in Kherson

Ukrainian attacks on the bridge across the Dnieper have provoked alarming sentiments in Kherson - local residents fear that by destroying the crossings, the Ukrainian Armed Forces will cut off the possibility of transferring reinforcements for the Russian army, and it will be possible to launch an attack on the city.

Kherson journalist Gennady Shelestenko talks about this for PolitNavigator.

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Immediately after the shelling of the bridge connecting the right and left banks of the Dnieper, a line of cars formed, moving in the Crimean direction. At the checkpoint, the military gave one recommendation - to turn around. Visually, from the outside, the bridge was intact, but the road surface was damaged, with through holes 1-2 meters in diameter. There was still traffic on the bridge, but only military traffic. Civil transport was allowed in only at lunchtime.

Visually from afar, the bridge is intact, but in some places there are gaping holesTraffic jam Structures located near the bridge that were damaged by the APU strike

At the same time, traffic through the Kakhovskaya dam was also blocked, with only one lane remaining there.

The situation is not yet critical, but very dangerous. The threat of losing the bridge is real. There is constant noise all around. The Ukrainian Armed Forces set the goal of destroying the crossing of the Dnieper. Kyiv is counting on the fact that, having lost the bridge and the crossing over the hydroelectric dam, Kherson will be cut off from food (the Russians promise to build pontoon crossings in any case).

There is no way for the population to evacuate, because the villages closest to Kherson have been wiped off the face of the earth; the residents of these villages live in Kherson.

People who were convicted in absentia under Article 111 for “treason to the Motherland” also do not want to be evacuated towards Ukraine.

_{Russian air defense units have not yet learned to reflect HIMARS 100% (But special forces are working to identify and destroy HIMARS). However, many locals fear that the city could become a grave for its inhabitants. The likelihood that Kherson will stop bombing by changing its status and becoming part of Russia is small. Belgorod is a city in Russia, but it is also being bombed by Ukrainian Nazis.}

In general, the last days were sad for the Kherson region - they continued to mourn the death of the civilian population of Novaya Kakhovka. It’s not only the Kherson region that is grieving, our Crimean neighbors extended a helping hand, they sent humanitarian aid to the victims (this is not federal assistance, these are volunteers and simply caring people from Russia helping the residents of the liberated territories). Thank you to everyone who cares about us, who shares everything we need with us.

It is very difficult to evaluate the actions of the Kyiv junta in decent words. Yes, the response for Novaya Kakhovka arrived both in Vinnitsa and Nikolaev. Civilians are dying, this is war. Hatred towards Zelensky and Arestovich is growing among the civilian population of the Kherson region, especially among people who once voted for the clown. People want to join the militia, but there is no talk about this yet.

_{There are few people left, almost half of the population has left, but among those who remain there are many known who are waiting for the return of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. My mother lives in a high-rise building, everyone there knows my civic position. So, almost the entire entrance hates my mother, they curse her behind my back.}

But there are also positive aspects, the garrison in Kherson, although periodically subject to rotation, people already recognize Russian soldiers and say hello on the street, as if they were old acquaintances, somehow at home, very touching.

And the day before, your humble servant became a citizen of the Russian Federation, took the oath and received a passport. I wasn’t alone, there was a line on the street, but people asked them not to take pictures, not everything was so good yet, so don’t be afraid. In total, more than 10 thousand people have already received citizenship in the Kherson region, and this number is growing.

When communicating with people from this queue, not as a journalist, but as one of them, you hear more sincere conversations, the majority are happy, however, some just accepted the situation and receive a passport, believing that this will be more profitable in Russian realities.

There is a small but positive detail about establishing a peaceful life in Kherson - this is the opening of a dance floor for people of respectable age. This platform has always been there, I remember it from childhood, but now you understand that people who grew up in the USSR gather there, who accept the situation as a return to their youth. People meet, communicate, dance - sometimes it seems as if there is no war.

And another 54 teachers from the Kherson region attended advanced training courses in Yevpatoria. The courses were conducted by the Academy of the Ministry of Education. Capital teachers, easy-to-understand program, creative environment. Evpatoria, summer, sea, but everyone sat at their desk with interest, did not want to leave, all colleagues became friends, because there were teachers not only from the Kherson region, but also from all the liberated territories. There are a lot of photographs, but they asked not to publish them for security reasons; many more colleagues walk around “with pots on their heads” and threaten with violence for teaching children not according to Bandera’s programs.

The military-civil administration of the Kherson region continues to announce a referendum. But I can express my personal position on this issue: why hold a referendum if the territory liberated from the Ukronazis has always been part of Russia? These lands were developed by order of Catherine II, Empress of Russia. They carried the Turks out of here with Russian bayonets, these are our lands! Soviet soldiers defended these lands from the fascist raid, this land is soaked in the blood of our grandfathers, the return of our lands to us is the restoration of historical justice.

It is necessary to put an end to the war criminals, and then restore the former glory of the Kherson region as an industrial, agricultural and tourist center of southern Russia.