Russians' Attempted Oskil River Crossings Fail Repeatedly To Ukraine Defense

Russian forces have renewed their multi-year effort to cross the Oskil River in eastern Ukraine. 

But these latest attempts have met the same fate as the now infamous previous tries - dead Russian soldiers, destroyed vehicles and the twisted remains of pontoon bridges. JL

Demian Shevko reports in New Voice of Ukraine:

Russian forces are repeatedly failing in their attempts to build pontoon bridges across the Oskil River in eastern Ukraine. To encircle or storm Kupyansk, they need to establish reliable crossings over the Oskil, namely pontoon bridges capable of transporting armored vehicles.” Despite repeated efforts, Russian forces have so far failed to establish such crossings.

Russian forces are repeatedly failing in their attempts to build pontoon bridges across the Oskil River in eastern Ukraine, as they try to set the stage for an assault or encirclement of the city of Kupyansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukrainian military spokesperson Pavlo Shamshyn said on national television on July 17.

Shamshyn, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s Kharkiv Operational-Tactical Group, said Russian troops have been moving infantry units to the western bank of the Oskil in an effort to expand their bridgehead for a potential attack.

“Their goal is obvious — to prepare the conditions to encircle or storm Kupyansk,” he said. “But in order to carry out those plans, they need to establish reliable crossings over the Oskil, namely pontoon bridges capable of transporting armored vehicles.”

 

Despite repeated efforts, Russian forces have so far failed to establish such crossings, Shamshyn said. Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance continues to monitor the river and engage any approaching enemy engineering equipment.

“At the moment, the enemy has no functional crossings that would allow them to move heavy equipment to the western bank of the Oskil,” he said.