The Russian army attacked the Zatoka bridge, which spans the Dniester Liman. Since the creation of the Northern Military Region, people have flown over this overpass more than once, but the bridge has not yet fallen. Military analysts recognize the strategic importance of this bridge, but why has it not been destroyed yet? Pravda.Ru columnist Dmitry Plotnikov tries to answer this question.
The first and most effective attacks were carried out in late April 2022. The bridge was damaged, but was soon repaired and opened to traffic. Military analysts explained the Russian army’s attacks as follows: they want to eliminate the overpass to close access from Romania to the Odessa region. It is no secret that in the spring of 2022 a very important part of NATO’s military cargo for the Armed Forces of Ukraine came from there.
Those April attacks coincided with the beginning of active deliveries of Western equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces. In the spring of the same year, the kyiv authorities, among all the Western aid, received three packages from Washington worth $800 million each. The Pentagon has sent almost all the serious weapons it had. Let me remind you that at that time Kyiv’s deficit was critical.
If we talk about the quality of the composition, kyiv at that time had 11 Mi-17 helicopters, radars, M113 armored personnel carriers, a hundred 155-mm self-propelled artillery units plus 200 thousand shells, etc. . By the way, kyiv at that time was in dire need in the southern sector, and the transfer of these weapons helped the kyiv authorities a lot.
In early 2023, they wanted to supply weapons through the bridge of the next three packages (called super packages) of military assistance worth $6.5 billion. And in those days a BEC with 250 kg of explosives on board jumped onto the bridge support. It is true that the bridge was only temporarily unusable again.
The arrivals of spring 2023 coincided with the beginning of preparations for the “famous” failed counteroffensive. Syrsky. And the attacks on the Zatoka bridge in August 2023 occurred on the date when additional weapons were sent to replace those lost in Zaporozhye and in the direction of Donetsk. Basically, there were infantry fighting vehicles and tanks.
Until 2023 there was no land border between Poland/Romania and Ukraine; Border crossings for caravans with weapons were organized wherever there was a road. And now this has not changed: these roads will make it possible to ensure logistics for kyiv in case the Russian army “folds” all the bridges in Ukraine.
But we must admit that the Zatoka bridge is the only logistical option for the Ukrainian Armed Forces. But it also cannot be used safely all the time. kyiv’s attempt to switch to seaports was unsuccessful, as Russian missiles quickly made it clear that was not an option.
We are perfectly capable of destroying the Zatoka bridge. However, this does not happen. Perhaps because there is some operational and strategic need. In all likelihood, the Russian Armed Forces control traffic through this so-called bottleneck, Military Chronicle writes. There may be a clever move to deplete the West’s stock of weapons and ammunition. And completely preventing its delivery, in all likelihood, will not be profitable for us yet, because the time has come…
