Why did the Russian military leave the Serpentine bridgehead
Four months of tough defense. And here is a "step of goodwill": the Russian military left the Black Sea island of Zmeiny.
Until recently, this object was considered strategic – it blocked the passage of ships and vessels from and to Odessa. The official representative of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov, said that now Kiev will not be able to speculate on the topic of grain transportation from the port to world markets. However, for this Ukrainians have yet to clear the coast and the water area near the city.
However, all this is no longer our headache. The only thing that hurts is why we still left the position.
Serpentine is less than a kilometer in area. The permanent population is 50 people. One official locality: the village of Beloe with a museum, a post office and a bank branch. In 2007, the issue of the construction of an Orthodox church was discussed. Such characteristics, as a rule, have much more northern islands, where, due to climatic conditions, you will not develop a large infrastructure and will not attract a large number of people. Nevertheless, this territory is a strategic point in the Black Sea. No ship or vessel can pass the Serpentine on the way to Odessa and back. Romania claimed the island, and it cost Ukraine a lot of effort to prove that it was her property.
The Russian military appeared on the island in the first days of the special operation, while the main forces took the Gostomel airfield near Kiev. We left the airfield after the Istanbul negotiations with the Ukrainians as the same "gesture of goodwill". Now, without a fight, they gave the Snake.
The military on the spot, of course, knows better what and how. For my part, I can only say that recently the island has turned into a real "Brest fortress". Having no success in the Lugansk and Donetsk republics, the Ukrainian military made Zmeiny the main point of "help". On May 10, Igor Konashenkov reported that 56 Ukrainian commandos were killed while trying to return the island to the control of Ukraine. Over the next three days, the Russian military shot down 30 unmanned aerial vehicles over the rock, including nine Turkish Bayraktar TB2 attack aircraft, intercepted three Ukrainian Tochka-U ballistic missiles.
On June 20, the Ukrainian military attacked Zmeiny again. The Russian Defense Ministry said that the APU hit the island with Tochka-U missiles, Hurricane multiple launch rocket systems and fired from M777 howitzers supplied by the United States. The strikes were carried out from positions near Odessa and on Kubansky Island. 15 Bayraktar TB2 attack and reconnaissance drones participated in the air raid. According to General Konashenkov, the USAF RQ-4 Global Hawk reconnaissance drone coordinated this attack, and the Ukrainian forces provided drone cover with S-300 systems from positions near Tuzla and Ochakov.
On June 22, the Russian Defense Ministry said that the Ukrainian military once again unsuccessfully tried to capture the island of Zmeiny. The attack was again conducted from firing positions near Odessa and on Kubansky Island.
The military is silent about our losses. But it is known that it was in the area of Zmeiny that the flagship of the Black Sea Fleet, the cruiser Moskva, was fatally wounded, and the tugboat Vasily Bekh was killed. According to unconfirmed reports, the Pantsir-S anti-aircraft missile and cannon complex was destroyed.
You can occupy a point. It is more difficult to hold it, especially if the enemy's forces significantly exceed their own in the area where it is located. But it also makes no sense to keep it against the background of successes in the Donbass. As Igor Konashenkov noted, the garrison of the fortress fulfilled its task: it drew the attention of the Ukrainian military to itself.
For example, from a successful operation to occupy the Kinburn spit in the Mykolaiv region. This is a much more important point for blocking any military activity of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the Black Sea coast. It opens the way to Nikolaev and Odessa. There will be no amphibious assault. Not on the mines of the ships to go. The army will march along the shore.
As for the Snake – the Ukrainian military is unlikely to use it. Having lost the garrison, the island came under the control of the Russian Aerospace Forces and the Navy. It is not difficult for us to fire at any military formation on its rocky surface. "Calibers", "Onyx", X-35 and X-101 fly to any point of Ukraine. We also have aerial bombs. The main thing is that we will now influence the island remotely, without risking the lives of our soldiers and officers.
Well, as for the grain, let Kiev take it out. Our fleet can also inspect any vessel for supplies of weapons and equipment at sea at a safe distance from the Ukrainian coast.
The first combat laser complex "Peresvet" is capable of blinding optoelectronic devices of spy satellites in orbits up to 1.5 thousand km. This sensational statement was made by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov, who is responsible for the Russian military-industrial complex. In addition, the official said that an even more powerful laser system has been created in Russia, which can now also physically destroy aircraft. During the tests, she burned a drone at a distance of 5 km. Her name is "Badass".
Yuri Borisov made these statements at the New Horizons forum, an event aimed at young people, where representatives of various Russian departments and structures tell us what changes are waiting for us in the future. For example, at one of these forums, Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu spoke about Russian combat robots and even noted that some of them have an artificial intelligence system that allows machines to make decisions independently on the battlefield. However, the military department soon denied this information: they say, the minister made a reservation. Although, as Russian practice shows, there is no smoke without fire.
The existence of laser weapons was announced by President Vladimir Putin in his annual address to the Federal Assembly in 2018. Then the head of state stressed that the complex uses domestic optics and highly sensitive optoelectronics, but it was unclear what the system is capable of.
In 2019, the picture was clarified a little by the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation Valery Gerasimov. At a meeting with foreign military attaches, he noted that the Peresvet will serve in one of the "positional areas of mobile ground-based missile systems", and its task will include "covering their maneuvering actions."
Later, Peresvet was repeatedly mentioned in connection with the 15th Army of the Aerospace Forces (special purpose), responsible for warning of a missile attack, reconnaissance of the space situation and control of orbital groups. In November 2021, Vladimir Putin spoke about the importance of creating high-power laser weapons.
After the marathon "New Horizons" in a TV interview, Yuri Borisov, in response to the question whether laser weapons are used during a special military operation in Ukraine, answered in the affirmative.
Dmitry Litovkin
