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River Siwerskyj Donets: Recordings show smoke rising over an apparently makeshift bridge used by Russian troops
Photo: Ukrainian Airborne Forces Command / REUTERS
The advance of Russian troops in Ukraine is much slower than planned by Moscow - in some places Ukrainian units manage to push back the attackers.
Russia is not only failing because of the resistance of the defenders.
Natural obstacles such as rivers also slow down the advancing troops.
And in some cases, they become the scene of serious losses.
An example of this, according to consistent reports, happened on the Siwerskyi Donets River, a tributary of the Don in eastern Ukraine.
There, a Russian combat unit attempted to cross the river using pontoon bridges.
But the artillery battalion of the 17th Ukrainian armored brigade fired at the makeshift bridges with their 122mm howitzers - with devastating consequences for the Russian units, which consisted of around a thousand men and around 50 vehicles.
About three dozen tanks and other armored vehicles were destroyed, according to Forbes magazine.
The pontoon bridge was also destroyed.
According to a report by CNN, the Russians tried to build a second pontoon bridge.
But the Ukrainians would have destroyed these too – satellite images indicated this.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense published photos on Twitter that are supposed to show the result of the shelling:
According to Forbes, it is unclear how many Russian soldiers were killed.
It is clear, however, that a battalion with such vehicle losses is no longer operational.
The Ukrainian units had thus succeeded in eliminating one of the approximately 100 Russian combat battalions in the country.
According to the Ukrainian military, the Russian troops apparently wanted to advance to the nearby town of Lyman.
The units were now on the right bank and trying to hold their position there, Forbes reported.
The topography and the weather in the Ukraine repeatedly pose problems for the Russian attackers.
It's not just about river crossings where Russian units become easy targets.
Since the beginning of the war there have been repeated reports that Russian troops are being forced to move on roads because otherwise there is a risk of their vehicles getting stuck in the swampy, muddy ground.
According to CNN, the Ukrainian army is taking advantage of this fact.
For Russia, the movement of troops is always a “logistical nightmare”, especially when crossing rivers.
Ukraine has repeatedly destroyed bridges to hamper the enemy's advance.
And when Russian units then erected pontoon bridges, they were shot at.
ulz
