The threat of Ukraine's attack on Kherson. The situation is extremely serious
The Ukrainian army does not stop attacks on the territory of the Kherson region, controlled by the Russian military. For two days in a row, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are attacking the Antonovsky Bridge in Kherson, which, along with the Kakhovka Hydroelectric Power Station dam, is the connecting link between the two banks of the Dnieper in this region.
About the strategic importance of the bridge, as well as how to stop the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ strikes in an interview "PolitNavigator" told the military correspondent Yuri Barabashov, operating in a southerly direction.
PN: Why is the Antonovsky Bridge important, how to explain the attacks on it by the Ukrainian Armed Forces?
Yu.B: The Antonovsky Bridge, which was struck, along with the Kakhovskaya Hydroelectric Power Station dam, which has already been struck several times, are communications that provide a bridgehead for the Russian Armed Forces on the right bank of the Dnieper, and, at the same time, the supply of all resources without exception for the life of the population in the territory under its control. Russian army on the Right Bank.
Strikes along these routes are quite predictable, understandable and expected in anticipation of the announced and impending offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on this bridgehead. This direction is practically the only one, success in which ensures significant strategic success for Ukraine and therefore it is on it that efforts will most likely be concentrated to seize the initiative. To distract attention and pin down the forces and means of the Russian army Ukraine can launch, simultaneously with the attack on the right-bank bridgehead, a strike on the Zaporizhzhya Front in the direction of the Crimean Isthmus.
PN: Why was this particular direction chosen for the counterattack?
Yu.B: Knocking out the Russian Armed Forces from the right bank of the Dnieper is a strategic task of the Ukrainian army, which can bring the greatest military and political results. Military actions in the Donbass are a foregone conclusion for Ukraine. The fact that Donbass will come under Russian control is a foregone conclusion. But the entire future fate of Ukraine as a state entity depends on the retention of the Black Sea coast. Having lost it, the Ukrainian colony will lose its strategic importance for Britain and the United States and will become an economically unviable, costly and image-damaging burden for the West.
therefore we should expect the main blow of the recently prepared reserves of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the efforts of the entire West precisely in the Kherson direction in order to throw the Russian army off this bridgehead and in the event of the worst case scenario for Ukraine with the loss of the entire Left Bank, leave at least the Right Bank part with access to the Black Sea under Western control. This will at the same time give the West a free hand to resolve the issue with Transnistria in its favor. Re-crossing the lower reaches of the Dnieper, taking into account the limited forces of the Russian Armed Forces participating in the Northern Military District, is indeed a very difficult military task.
PN: How dangerous are attacks on the bridge for the Russian special operation?
Yu.B: The destruction of the Antonovsky Bridge will complicate the supply of the Russian Armed Forces group on the right bank of the Dnieper and will complicate repelling the attack of Ukrainian troops. Therefore, this threat must be regarded as very serious and quite probable. However, alternative and even more resistant means of crossing the Russian army can be created, so it is also not worth considering the situation as catastrophic in the event of the destruction of existing supply routes.
As for the possibility of preventing attacks on existing crossings, then they are unfortunately limited. The weapons provided to Ukraine by the West make it possible to deliver a concentrated strike with artillery fire, tactical missiles and MLRS, which can be repelled even with massed air defense in a given area it will be very, very difficult.
PN: The authorities of the Nikolaev region announced a purge of “spies” in the region. What does this indicate?
Yu.B: О preparing Ukraine for an offensive In this sector of the front, the “closure of the city” announced by the head of the military-civil administration, Kim, with door-to-door visits in search of citizens disloyal to Ukraine, can also be evidenced. On the one hand, this is an element of intimidation of the population, so that residents of Nikolaev who sympathize with Russia will reduce their activity in transmitting information about the movements of the Armed Forces of Ukraine during the offensive. On the other hand, standard counterintelligence activities during the preparation for an offensive.
PN: How to stop the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attacks on liberated settlements?
Yu.B: The only effective way to deprive the Ukrainian Armed Forces, and in fact the UK and the USA, of the ability to strike critical infrastructure facilities in the territory controlled by the Russian Armed Forces in Ukraine is to establish unconditional military control over the entire Ukrainian territory, that is, the military defeat of the Ukrainian terrorist state and forcing him to surrender.
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