Read also: Ukraine carries out another strike on the key Kherson bridge On the afternoon of August 26, social media reported new explosions in Kherson. Some Telegram channels posted videos of explosions and smoke in the area of the Antonivskiy Bridge. The Russian invaders reported that their air defenses were active but, apparently, were unable to prevent the bridge from being hit. Later, the Kherson regional military command confirmed that there had been strikes on the bridge. The day before, on August 25, local journalist Konstantin Ryzhenko spoke to NV about the situation in the occupied territory. – I saw you mentioned that the Russians are now building a ferry using barges, trying to restore the supply line. Could you elaborate on this? What is known about the bridges, about the Antonivskiy bridge? We know HIMARS hit it again, what state is it in now? – After the first strikes on the bridge, they (the Russians) began to look for options on how to move vehicles and ammunition to the right side of the Dnipro River, in case the bridge was removed. Basically, it’s a logical decision to end them, given that the Ukrainian counterattack has declared the bridges to be priority targets. From the point of view of military affairs, this is quite a reasonable decision to look for some alternative options. How they do it is highly questionable. I talked to people who work in the shipbuilding industry. They built these barges and they don’t think it will be like the situation of the Antonivskiy bridge: despite all the strikes, it is strong enough. It was built, as they say, for centuries, with a large margin of safety, as it is a strategic artery. The same applies to the Kakhovska hydroelectric station, as well as the second bridge, which is called the Antonivskiy railway bridge. They just can’t be destroyed that easily. Despite the number of strikes, the movement of military vehicles was still recorded there good solution. The story continues – So does the movement continue? It was you who mentioned various authorities of the Peninsular Region and said that traffic stops at the bridge. And it was you who stated that vehicles continue to pass despite the fact that this Antonivskiy bridge is hit almost all the time. – Yes, but it is necessary to distinguish very clearly in which field we are playing. If we repeat from the point of view of propaganda and so-called jingoistic patriotism, which is based on politicians either running some kind of propaganda or trying to score some positive points for themselves – then it is allowed there. But if we speak from the point of view of objectivity and truth, then the passage over the Antonivskiy bridge was always in progress. The only thing is that after the heavy hits we noticed that the bridge was blocked for quite some time, which was taken by some speakers as a victory. Objectively they did the following: they (the Russian invasion forces) closed the bridge, they began to test what would pass over it. First, they let a convoy of light cars check if they can get through. Then they let a couple of trucks in, see if they can get through and so on. And at the same time they are trying to make repairs. It is important to understand here that it is necessary to either completely destroy the bridge in such a way that many spans are missing. or you must clearly understand that any strike slows down the passage for only a few days. And so we play this game with the Russians, and it will continue until the guiding reinforcement structures, which form the backbone of the bridge itself, are destroyed. It is extremely difficult to do and rather doubtful if it is possible at all, given how many strikes have already started and what state it is in now. – We remember that on August 23, the Armed Forces of Ukraine hit this bridge. What were the results? Here I must remind our audience that the audio message went out, saying that the bridge was “gone”, to put it politely. – If we talk about my Telegram channel, then I want to say that I posted a video of how the vehicles were transported at 6 in the morning. So the bridge definitely didn’t “go away” since there was traffic. The issue of being objective is not only about rational assessment of abilities, perspectives and further planning. First of all, it is important to be objective because the people of Kherson are in a state of constant hope. And when they are told that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are already 10 kilometers from the city, that there is fighting on the outskirts of the city and the bridge is destroyed and the attack is about to start… Every time people look out the window , in heaven, they have hope and expect that something is going to happen. And then comes the realization that someone made these statements to score some political points for themselves as well as get everyone on the hype train. And then comes a very strong feeling of frustration and disappointment. There is a feeling that the victories are only on paper and it hurts the morale of the people of Kherson. The fighting spirit is greatly shaken because of this. Some people are starting to believe Russian Telegram channels that say Ukraine can only win on paper and openly laugh at this counterattack. Therefore, it is extremely important to state things as they are, not only for the sake of the plans, but also for the sake of the people, their aspirations, desires and hopes. – Then let’s talk a little about reality, because what you say is very interesting. From the messages we receive from southern Ukraine, we see that Ukrainian partisans are active. We see leaflets posted which mention among other things how some associates died. Can the people of Kherson witness these pro-Ukrainian actions, to realize that there is an internal resistance and that the world is not alone there with the invaders who constantly repeat “We are here forever” and “Kherson is Russia” and and the rest? – These questions should be divided into several different ones. First, there is a resistance movement – these are the partisans. There are moves that follow the same vector, but slightly different. The resistance movement is first and foremost an ideological movement. They make leaflets, writing on walls, graffiti. It operates on a relatively cultural level of peaceful resistance, trying to prove by all available means that Kherson is Ukraine. They will hang a flag here, a leaflet there and somewhere they will launch blue-yellow balloons into the sky. Of course, from the military’s point of view it makes no sense, as this has no practical application as such. But from an ideological point of view this is very important, as it inspires people. Because first of all people give up inside and only after that they give up in real life. About the partisans: indeed, they exist. But there are some nuances here. Not all explosions, nor all executions, are carried out directly by partisans. We are now beginning to notice that the systematic bombing of collaborators who have gone to the Russians suggests that the FSB (Russian Secret Service) itself has also begun to exterminate local collaborators. As I understand it, they did not live up to their expectations, and some of these car bombings are apparently carried out directly by agents of the FSB itself. We keep in touch with the guerrillas and the resistance movement and when certain things happen, we can figure out exactly who did it. Probably this is due to the high level of corruption, because, surprisingly, our partners managed to teach even the Russian FSB about the corruption in Kherson. In wartime, as you know, some strange suicides, hangings and explosions happen quite often in Russia. Especially among people involved in military budgets, so some of these explosions are caused not only by the partisans, but also by the FSB. – How are the invaders persecuting the Ukrainian activists? I expect that this will have to be made even more strict, because after all, when associates, who were appointed somewhere, are blown up or shot, then the rest may start to think that they are next. If we talk about how the screws are tightened in Kherson, what do you know about it? – The screws are tightened continuously, it is done in waves every month. Initially, in mid-May, it was possible to walk along the street with a Ukrainian symbol, and if they approached a person, there were no big problems because of it. Now if you have a Ukrainian song as your ringtone or the screen saver with the Ukrainian flag or whatever, you can be taken underground and tortured. We have such a high level of repression that any manifestation of Ukrainian statism is prohibited. – Fortunately, we are in contact with a resident of Chersona, a person who, unfortunately, remains in this temporary occupation. We ask them about how the Russian army is behaving. From what we’ve heard, it’s clear that they see themselves as the main race. We were told about Nova Kakhovka and that the Russians almost thought they were in a resort. After the first explosions caused by the HIMARS, the Russians got very caught up and started drinking a lot. Is the situation similar in Kherson? – Kherson and Nova Kakhovka are two different worlds, the right and left banks are very different in terms of behavior patterns and actions of the Russian army. In Kherson, they act like locusts – trying to plunder everything that can be plundered. They remove machinery, equipment and any assets from businesses. One can see that despite all the statements about referendums and restoration of the region, they are not going to stay in Kherson itself. In Nova Kakhovka they tried to re-register legal entities, began to cooperate with farmers, introducing taxes and…
