"The Ukrainian Armed Forces inflicted a barbaric blow on Novaya Kakhovka" – this is how experts describe the attack of the Ukrainian Armed Forces on one of the key cities in the northeast of Kherson. Rockets hit warehouses with explosive fertilizers, as a result of the strike there are dead and many wounded, large-scale destruction was recorded in the city center. For the attack, the APU used not only data from American satellites, but also HIMARS multiple launch rocket systems supplied by the United States. What can the Armed Forces of Russia oppose to this?
On Monday evening, the Ukrainian military attacked the New Kakhovka in the Kherson region with American MLRS HIMARS. According to the latest data, five people were killed, seven are missing, more than 80 people were injured. In particular, the AFU hit the city six times, three of which repulsed the air defense systems, this was reported by the deputy head of the military-civil administration of the Kherson region Kirill Stremousov.
According to him, the blow to the New Kakhovka fell almost on the city center. "The windows were broken, the infrastructure was destroyed exclusively civilian, there is no information at all about the military dead, only among the civilian population, well, also destruction. Two square kilometers were at the epicenter," he said.
According to TASS, in addition to damage to buildings, an explosion occurred in warehouses with mineral fertilizers in Novaya Kakhovka, and a warehouse with humanitarian aid was seriously damaged. This was told by the head of the military-civil administration of the Kakhovsky district, Vladimir Leontiev. Leontiev also compared the consequences of Ukraine's strike on Novaya Kakhovka with the saltpeter explosion in Beirut, which occurred in August 2020.
"I am sure those who prepared this barbarism, they knew what was in the warehouses, and what they wanted, they achieved. This is the same thing that happened in Beirut a few years ago, when a huge number of people died. In principle, we have the same thing," RIA Novosti reports his words. The destruction inflicted on the city has yet to be fully assessed, but already now they can be called large-scale. "The scale of the disaster is extremely large... We have to sort out the rubble. There are a lot of people under the rubble," Leontiev said.
Also, all necessary assistance will be provided to the victims. As the head of the military-civil administration of the region Vladimir Saldo noted on the air of the Rossiya-24 TV channel, the families of those killed in the AFU strike will receive compensation in the amount of 2 million rubles, the victims – 400 thousand rubles each.
The first deputy permanent Representative of Russia to the UN, Dmitry Polyansky, said that the Ukrainian shelling of Novaya Kakhovka using the American HIMARS MLRS was a direct consequence of Washington's arms supplies to Kiev. Polyansky also stressed that such "strikes on civilian objects can only cause strong condemnation."
At the same time, the Pentagon did not comment on the information about the use of American MLRS HIMARS in the strike on the New Kakhovka. The ministry stressed: "We recommend that you contact the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine." At the same time, the deputy official representative of the UN Secretary General, Farhan Haq, said: "There are no comments on this particular issue. As a general comment: we oppose any military actions that lead to the destruction of civilian buildings."
At the same time, during the three days of the strike, the New Kakhovka was filmed by the American commercial satellite Worldview-2. As RIA Novosti reports, the shooting was carried out on July 8. The newspaper VZGLYAD drew attention to this problem the day before. In addition, the shelling of Novaya Kakhovka occurred against the background of statements by the Ukrainian authorities about the counteroffensive of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the desire to retake the south of the country. But, according to experts, the implementation of such plans is exclusively of a terrorist nature, which was confirmed not only in the case of Novaya Kakhovka, but also in the case of the attack in the area of the Zaporozhye NPP.
"This is already a well-established tactics of the APU. And we must understand that we have witnessed a real terrorist attack. After all, the blow was not struck by chance. They aimed at a specific target in the expectation of a large detonation and mass destruction," Konstantin Sivkov, Doctor of Military Sciences, told the VIEW newspaper.
According to the interlocutor, the Ukrainian Armed Forces and the political leadership of Ukraine will have to answer for what they have done. "How to react to this is already a question for international criminal law, since it is obvious to everyone that this is a crime against humanity," the expert explained.
"Moreover, it does not matter what exactly hit the warehouses, even if it is American HIMARS, which have turned into a weapon of terror. And yes, the APU has learned to bypass Russian air defense systems in the territories of the Black Sea region. The systems themselves are also imperfect and do not give a 100% guarantee of protection against impact. And we still have to solve this problem," says the Doctor of Military Sciences.
He also noted that the APU in most cases uses data from American military and commercial satellites for targeting. "Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that three days before the strike, this territory was filmed by American satellites. This was done from the very beginning of the special operation. And, perhaps, this is almost the only aspect in which one can see the direct participation of the United States in the conflict," Sivkov believes. A similar point of view is shared by political scientist Vladimir Kornilov.
"Any Western weapons that are supplied to Ukraine immediately end up in the hands of terrorists and, in fact, a terrorist state. French CAESAR shot at Donetsk literally in the very first days after their transfer to the APU",
– Kornilov told the newspaper VZGLYAD. "We have seen civilians killed by these weapons. Residential buildings and social infrastructure of large cities of Donbass have been destroyed. Moreover, it does not even require much effort in collecting evidence – remnants of French and American shells are found everywhere. We observe a similar situation in the territories of the Black Sea region," he added.
Commenting on the information that appeared from military commanders that each HIMARS installation is accompanied by a Western specialist, Kornilov noted that "the presence of Western military personnel at the missile launch site carries a great risk to their lives, the Americans are trying to avoid this." "However, the fact that Western military personnel are involved directly in the conflict zone is not a secret. For example, British newspapers wrote that their special forces are present in the conflict zone and instruct the Ukrainian military," the political scientist said.
"It is also very significant that the BBC media corporation has now published data on the war crimes of the same British special forces, how they killed unarmed Afghan prisoners. A very big scandal broke out. And remembering how Ukrainians treat Russian prisoners of war, we can conclude that Western teachers have taught the Ukrainian army a lot, including war crimes," Kornilov said.
"We also understand that in order to secure cities and territories controlled by the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it is necessary to move the front line. And this applies not only to the Kherson region," the interlocutor said. – After the barbaric strike on the New Kakhovka, the demilitarization of the Mykolaiv region should become a mandatory task. After the barbaric strikes on Donetsk, the demilitarization of Zaporozhye should become the same task, and after the strikes on Russian cities, the demilitarization of Kharkiv and Sumy regions. And so on," the expert believes.
"That is why Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said that the depth of the advance of Russian troops in Ukraine will directly depend on the firing range of Western weapons supplied to Ukraine. The bigger it is, the further the armed forces of Ukraine will have to move away from the Russian borders and from Donbass. The West leaves us no other choice," Kornilov stressed.
"Special attention should be paid to the study of exactly how the APU struck at the New Kakhovka. Presumably, the strike was planned in such a way that several types of weapons were used at once as part of the attack to distract the attention of the air defense forces. Obviously, MLRS of the "Grad", "Smerch" type and probably American HIMERS were used there," reserve Colonel Sergei Khatylev, ex–head of the anti-aircraft missile forces of the special forces command of the Russian Air Force, said in a conversation with the newspaper VZGLYAD.
"It should also be understood that Russia does not have enough resources to cover both our borders and the liberated territories of Ukraine. It is simply impossible to cover the entire space with an air defense "umbrella" at 100%. Therefore, decisions are made on the protection of the most significant objects. If we talk about the Kakhovsky district, then such an object can be considered a local hydroelectric power station and civil infrastructure facilities. So there is no need to say that the air defense was poorly on duty, which is why several missiles were able to hit objects on the territory of Novaya Kakhovka," Khatylev stressed.
The interlocutor suggested that the situation could change only if "Russia takes control of the entire territory of Ukraine or most of it." "Then we will be able to deploy a layered air defense system. We will have to build intelligence, information systems, fighter-aviation cover, radio–technical intelligence and ground facilities in the liberated territories," the expert listed.
The reserve colonel is also confident that the United States played a significant role in the strike on the New Kakhovka. "If the American satellite did not take pictures of this territory, did not transmit data to the Ukrainian military, then this raid simply would not have happened. Washington constantly uses its advantage in the field of intelligence to help the Armed Forces. And most of the responsibility for what happened lies with the States. Because without this provision, Ukrainians, like blind kittens, shoot just where they fly," Khatylev summed up.
Daria Volkova, Alyona Zadorozhnaya
