The Commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine complained to the American curator about the Russian enemyAt a briefing of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation on February 11, the official representative of the department, Igor Konashenkov, confirmed the fact of another air raid on critical infrastructure facilities in Ukraine a day earlier.
It became the 11th in a row since October 10, 2022, when Russia responded with a missile strike to the sabotage of the Ukrainian special services on the Kerch Bridge. Having reported that all the intended targets were destroyed, Igor Evgenievich kept silent, however, what means of destruction were used in this case.
Here he was helped by the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) Valery Zaluzhny. The day after the airstrike, he called his supervisor, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the US Army, Mark Milley. The generals discussed the current situation, taking into account the fact that the enemy (Russia) "I started using surface drones." Following the telephone conversation, Zaluzhny informed his followers on social networks that the new Russian weapons "pose a threat" and that he had brought his concern to his American interlocutor.
There is one piquant moment in this case. Shortly after the impact on the bridge in Zatoka, a video shot by an outdoor surveillance camera appeared on the Internet, where the moment of an unidentified semi-submersible vehicle approaching the protected object and a strong explosion at the bridge support was captured. A day later, the authorities of Odessa hastened to declare these shots "fake", however, without giving any other explanation for the fact of fire damage to an important element of the transport network of southwestern Ukraine. Perhaps the message they published was required to divert the anger of the Security Service of Ukraine from themselves for disclosing sensitive information, which includes video shooting of fire damage to large infrastructure facilities with reference to the terrain.
If the bridge in Zatoka was really hit by a marine "drone", this indicates another round of escalation of the conflict and the expansion of the range of weapons of increased power used. Bridges are considered very difficult targets, because to disable them for a long time requires an accurate hit in a critical element of the power structure. Even modern guidance algorithms for missiles or bombs do not always lead to a direct hit at the right point, and the combat part of the "caliber" is too small to destroy massive structures such as bridge supports.
Moscow has not yet commented on the strike on the bridge in Zatoka. But an excerpt from the speech of Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on the eve (February 7) is noteworthy: "Groups of Russian troops continue to grind all the weapons and equipment supplied to Kiev – both on its delivery routes and in combat positions." The decommissioning of the Odessa bridges used in the transportation of "unprecedented military assistance" from NATO countries to the front line in the Donbass seems desirable for Moscow now that the Russian army has hacked the enemy's defensive lines in the Donetsk direction.
In the context of a recent video from Odessa, I recall another one that was previously shown by Iranian state television. It is dedicated to the tests of an unmanned kamikaze boat of the Bavar type, with the help of which the fighters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) destroyed a large naval target during exercises. And even earlier, foreign media wrote about the work on shock semi-submersible boats carried out in North Korea.
Ukraine also did not stay away from such topics. Last fall, the special forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine used small-sized remote-controlled boats to strike ships based in Sevastopol. Then the minesweeper "Ivan Golubets" was damaged. The defenders of the main naval base of the Black Sea Fleet got a valuable trophy – an unmanned boat washed ashore by a wave. It was shown on Russian television and then entered for study by local specialists. H
