War in Ukraine / July 26

5 min readJul 27, 2022

Day 154: The number one goal is the Antonovsky bridge

On the night of July 27, the Armed Forces of Ukraine again shelled the Antonovsky bridge connecting the right and left banks near Kherson. According to unconfirmed data, the Armed Forces of Ukraine also damaged the railway track of the nearby railway bridge. Ukraine and Russia confirmed the shelling, the civilian population was not injured.

Officially, the Russian Federation does not comment on the shelling, but from the information available to us, we can talk about serious damage. At the time of preparation of the newsletter, traffic on the bridge is completely stopped, it is only possible to move on foot. The road surface is damaged, as are the main structures. A few days ago, the traffic was closed for transport heavier than 5 tons, today the traffic was completely blocked. How quickly it will be possible to restore the bridge and whether it will be possible at all in such conditions is unknown.

Ukraine is deliberately shelling the bridge: this is an opportunity to interrupt the logistical supply of the Russian army in Kherson. Currently, the bridge is the fastest and shortest way to quickly deliver resources from the left bank to the right. The second detour is 70 km higher in Novaya Kakhovka. However, in addition, occupants need to cross the bridge over the Ingulets River, which is also being fired upon by the Armed Forces. Another option is transportation by helicopters to the airfield in Chornobayivka, which has been attacked by the Armed Forces of Ukraine more than 25 times. In the last resort — crossing by ships. In other words, each of the supply routes is now dangerous and much longer.

For Ukraine, this is an opportunity to force the Russian army to start a retreat on its own due to the impossibility of providing defense. So far, Russia is not retreating, but Ukraine has not launched a powerful counteroffensive yet, which could somehow influence the decision of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation.

Also, Ukraine once again demonstrated the importance of Western weapons. The attacks were carried out thanks to HIMARS, which allow firing at a range of up to 70 km. According to eyewitnesses, the accuracy of the shells made it possible not only to hit the bridge, but to cause damage just a few meters away from the previous hits.

Latest investigations of the Molfar team:

Airstrike, missile and MRL damage

Kharkiv region:

Kharkiv and Chuhuiv were shelled with S-300 air defense missiles. In Kharkiv 2 missiles hit an open area near a metro station in Slobidskyi district, debris hit the roof of a car dealership — a fire started. The territory of the enterprise and a multi-storey building were also damaged. In Chuhuiv, 2 houses and a gas pipe were destroyed.
[…]

Sumy region:

As a result of the shelling, windows in houses, fences, a power line and a transformer, and buildings of a recreation center were damaged. A 65-year-old recreation center watchman was injured. 14 explosions were recorded. Also, at ~12:00, there was 1 mortar hit on the territory of the community.
[…]

Zaporizhzhya region:

During the day, 13 cases of the destruction of civilian infrastructure as a result of the Russian shelling were recorded. Mala Tokmachka, Hulaipole, Yurkivka, and Orichiv were shelled.
[…]

Kherson region:

As a result of the shelling of cluster munitions, residential buildings were damaged.
[…]

Odessa region:

An air strike was carried out with 5 X-59 missiles from Su-30 and Su-35 aircraft, and X-22 missiles from bombers from the Black Sea direction, the missiles hit the seashore area in the Odesa region. According to the prosecutor’s office, 5 residential buildings were destroyed in Zatoka, 15 recreation centers, 60 summer cottages and ~80 shopping pavilions were damaged. In another village on the bank of the river Dnister, a recreation center was also damaged. According to the Odessa Regional Administration, there was an attempt to hit a critical infrastructure facility. Fires broke out at the impact site.
[…]

Mykolaiv region:

Russian troops hit the city with 9 missiles, presumably S-300. One of the missiles exploded on the territory of a motor transport enterprise, resulting in a 2 m deep crater, 10 cars were damaged, 1 minibus burned down, and the premises were damaged.
[…]

Chernihiv region:

Semenivka community was shelled 2 times, 22 explosions were recorded. The Snovsk community near Senkivka was shelled twice, a household building was destroyed and residential buildings were damaged.
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Donetsk region:

Russian forces shelled Avdіivka, Bakhmut, Soledar, Siversk, Hostre, Bilbasivka, Pivnіchne, the villages of Vesele, Opytne, and Pervomaiske. 32 civilian facilities were destroyed and damaged: 23 residential buildings, including 5 apartment buildings, a salt production plant, garages, cars and trucks. According to the head of the Donetsk Regional Military Administration, 1 person died in Seversk. Another 1 person was injured (1, 2).
[…]

Dnipropetrovsk region:

Power lines were damaged as a result of the shelling.
Chervonohryhorivka and Marhanets communities were shelled.
[…]

This was the free part of the military brief

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Civilian casualties
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