At the same time, the Russian military has not yet destroyed railway bridges
On April 25, the Russian Aerospace Forces and missile forces for the first time struck key objects of the railway infrastructure of Ukraine. During the day, high-precision long-range weapons destroyed electrical installations in the areas of the railway stations Krasnoe, Zdolbunov, Zhmerinka, Berdichev, Kovel and Korosten. In addition, in the city of Kremenchug, storage facilities with petroleum products, from which Ukrainian troops were supplied, came under attack. According to experts, disabling the railway infrastructure can prevent the flow of reinforcements and help the Russian offensive.
Don't burn bridges
For the first time, the Russian military inflicted such a massive blow on key railway infrastructure facilities, military expert Dmitry Boltenkov told Izvestia.
— Now "Ukrzaliznitsa" (railway of Ukraine. — "Izvestia") in the combat zone works mainly for the APU. Troops, supplies are being transferred along it, fuel is being delivered," he explained. — Disabling the railway infrastructure will prevent the flow of reinforcements and help the Russian offensive. A tank or an IFV without reliable fuel supply is useless junk that can only be thrown. That is why Russian precision weapons are regularly used against fuel storage and distribution bases.
The expert noted that so far the blows inflicted are quite soft and they cannot be called irreversible. It will be possible to restore traction substations, tracks, embankments quite quickly. The Russian military has so far refrained from more radical steps, for example, the destruction of railway bridges. This decision may be revised if echelons with equipment supplied by NATO countries follow them. All the coordinates of the bridges are known, as well as the technical characteristics. Their restoration will require much more time and money.
According to the official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Major General Igor Konashenkov, on the northern outskirts of Kremenchuk, the facilities for the production of fuel of an oil refinery, as well as storage facilities with petroleum products, which were used to provide military equipment for the grouping of Ukrainian troops, were destroyed.
In total, 33 military facilities were hit by air-launched cruise missiles during the night and day. Among them are the headquarters of the terrorist group "Right Sector" (the organization is banned in Russia) in Novogrodovka and four ammunition depots.
Operational-tactical and army aviation attacked 139 military facilities of Ukraine during the day, including a fuel storage facility near the settlement of Novaya Dmitrovka and 129 areas of concentration of manpower and military equipment.
— Artillery units completed 967 firing tasks during the day. 33 control points, 929 strong points, areas of accumulation of manpower and military equipment, as well as five warehouses of rocket and artillery weapons and ammunition were hit, - Igor Konashenkov listed.
Russian missile forces carried out 34 strikes. The list of the most significant targets hit includes the control points of the 81st separate airborne Assault Brigade, the 110th Territorial Defense Brigade and the starting position of the Tochka—U tactical missile system.
Air defense means destroyed 17 drones over Ukraine during the day. Two more drones, according to the Governor of the Kursk region Roman Starovoit, were intercepted around 4 a.m. on April 25 near the village of Borovskoye in the Rylsky district. On the air of the VGTRK-Kursk TV company, their fragments were demonstrated with the preserved inscriptions Bayraktar TB2 and UJ-22 Airborne (a Ukrainian unmanned bomber capable of carrying 82 mm mortar mines). There were no casualties and destruction on the ground.
On the evening of April 25, the AFU began shelling the village of Zhuravlevka in the Belgorod region in Russia, there are injured civilians, said the governor of the region Vyacheslav Gladkov. He specified that one man was wounded in the arm, and a woman in the neck. In addition, several residential buildings were destroyed.
The Ukrainian Tochka-U missile and 18 multiple rocket launchers were shot down by the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex in the air over Chernobayevka.
In total, according to the Defense Department, 141 Ukrainian aircraft, 110 helicopters, 570 unmanned aerial vehicles, 265 anti-aircraft missile systems, 2,554 tanks and other armored combat vehicles, 283 multiple rocket launchers, 1,104 field artillery and mortar guns, as well as 2,380 units of special military vehicles have been destroyed since the beginning of the special military operation.
No one came out
On April 25, Russian troops in Mariupol unilaterally stopped fighting in the Azovstal area, where the remaining militant units took refuge. At the same time, humanitarian corridors were opened for the evacuation of civilians from the territory of the enterprise, troops were withdrawn. However, by the end of the day, no one had come out of there, said Colonel-General Mikhail Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Control Center (NCSO).
— On the one hand, Kiev officials constantly and publicly declare that the plant's workers, women and children are allegedly in the underground structures of Azovstal, and on the other hand, they deliberately reject all humanitarian initiatives of the Russian side and do not take any practical measures to evacuate these persons. Such absolutely illogical and inconsistent behavior of the Kiev authorities once again confirms their outright indifference to the fate of specific people — to the citizens of their own country," the general stressed.
According to him, the Interdepartmental Coordination Headquarters for Humanitarian Response and federal agencies continue to record the facts of the inhumane attitude of the Kiev authorities to civilians.
— In the village of Karlovka of the Donetsk People's Republic, nationalist battalions mined the dam of the Charles reservoir, — said Mikhail Mizintsev. — In the event of an explosion, six settlements with a total population of more than 10 thousand people will be in the flood zone.
After the water leaves, the life support system (sewerage, water supply, water treatment facilities with tanks with chemical agents) will be damaged throughout the flooding area, which will lead to a sharp deterioration of the sanitary and epidemiological situation in the area of flooding and the spread of infectious diseases, the general added.
— The current state of affairs is aggravated by the unavailability of medical care, the lack of medicines, including vital ones; in the Mykolaiv region, in order to intimidate civilians who are making independent attempts to evacuate to Russia by private cars and on foot, territorial defense militants mined country roads and roadsides near the settlements of Kapustino, Suvorovka and Antonovka; in the city of Avdiivka In the Donetsk People's Republic, neo—Nazis have equipped a strongpoint in a residential building on Koroleva Street, firing points are placed on the upper floors, heavy equipment and MLRS are in the courtyard, while civilians are forcibly held in their apartments, hiding behind them as a "human shield," Mikhail Mizintsev said.
According to the head of the NCSO, over the past day, 9,285 people were evacuated from dangerous areas of Ukraine and from the Donetsk and Lugansk People's Republics to the territory of Russia, 733 of them children. A total of 975,234 people, including 178,091 children, have been evacuated since the start of the military operation.
Broke through the defense
On April 25, the Russian Defense Ministry told about soldiers and officers who showed courage and dedication during the fighting.
The assault group, which included Sergeant Velimir Trigub, ensured the safe advance of the column. During a walking reconnaissance, the group found a stronghold of the Ukrainian unit. Despite the significant superiority of the enemy in manpower and weapons, the Russian military entered the battle, the military department said. In a fleeting attack, more than 20 militants were destroyed by targeted fire, seven laid down their weapons and surrendered, and more than 70 people retreated.
Soon they organized a counterattack, trying to regain their lost positions. Velimir Trigub with five servicemen was cut off from the main forces of the assault group.
— Firing small arms, Sergeant Trigub held the occupied stronghold until the arrival of the main forces of the battalion for three hours, — said the Ministry of Defense. — Bold and decisive actions allowed the Russian troops to reach a new frontier and gain a foothold there.
A column of engineering units consisting of 40 vehicles and more than 100 military personnel under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel Andrey Naidanov overcame more than 200 km to reach a given area. During one of the parking lots, engineers discovered an unmanned aerial vehicle hovering over them. Having assessed the situation, Andrey Naidanov decided to change the location
Seven minutes after the exit of the Russian column, the enemy launched a powerful artillery strike on the locality where it was located.
— During the advance of the column, Andrey skillfully maneuvered, performed shockproof maneuvers, taking people and equipment out from under fire. Thanks to the professionalism and decisive actions of Andrei Naydanov, the column arrived in the specified area without losses in personnel and equipment," the Russian military department noted.
Sailor Sergey Voshkov as part of the BTG participated in fierce battles to liberate one of the settlements. During the breakthrough of the echeloned defense, Sergei was wounded in the arm, but did not leave his unit and saved his comrades from death. After another mortar raid, a car with ammunition caught fire at the location of the Russian unit. Having instantly assessed the situation, Sergey Voshkov jumped into the burning car and took it to a safe distance, where it exploded.
After that, the sailor Sergey Voshkov returned and continued to fight. For his heroic deed, he was awarded the medal "For Courage".
Anton Lavrov
Roman Kretsul
Bogdan Stepovoy
