The geographical tasks of the Special Military Operation have changed

1 Ukraine

Kirill Stremousov, the Deputy Head of the Civil-Military Administration of Kherson Oblast, reported that Ukraine is attacking a bridge across the Dnieper River, located in Kherson Oblast, with MLRS ’HIMARS’ for 2 days by now. In total, 12 missiles were fired. «There were 11 hits. The bridge was very badly damaged. The bridge can be repaired, but it will take some time. Most likely we will stop the traffic. The bridge won’t collapse, but traffic will be blocked. There were no dead or wounded» — Kirill Stremousov explained. The TASS reported that the Antonovsky Bridge is a vehicle and pedestrian bridge across the Dnieper River. The bridge connects the village of Antonovka, located in the suburbs of Kherson, with the town of Alyoshki, on the left bank. The bridge gives a route from Kherson to the other side of the Dnieper. The length of the bridge is 1,366 meters.

2 Ukraine

Vladimir Rogov, a member of the main council of the military-civilian administration of the Zaporozhye region, told to the TASS that some Ukrainian strike UAVs were used to attack the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant. He specified that everything is fine at the nuclear power plant. He also reported that 3 Ukrainian kamikaze drones attacked the nuclear power plant. According to him — the UAVs had about 1 kg of TNT. «The reactor wasn’t damaged. The radiation is normal. The system that works online checks all of that» — Vladimir Rogov explained, and added that the Ukrainian strikes were carried out not on power units, but on the entire territory of the nuclear power plant.

3 Ukraine

On 20th of July, the Department of Information and Mass Communications of the Russian Ministry of Defense reported that Sergei Shoigu, the Minister of Defense of Russia, visited the group ’’West’’, which is performing their combat missions in the special military operation. The group commander, Lieutenant-General Andrei Sychevoi, reported on the current situation. «Sergey Shoigu ordered to increase the effectiveness of destruction of Ukrainian drones over the areas near Russia. As well as to strictly suppress, with the newly arrived counter-battery weaponry, the shelling of residential areas of the liberated settlements by the Ukrainian nationalists» — the ministry added. Previously, Sergei Shoigu visited the groups «East», «South», and «Center». All of the groups are participating in the Special Operation.

4 Russia

«The geographical objectives of the special military operation in Ukraine have changed» — the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergey Lavrov, stated during an interview to the RT and the RIA NEWS. «When there was a meeting of the negotiators in Istanbul — there was one geography. Our willingness to accept the Ukrainian proposal was based on that geography, at the end of March 2022» — Lavrop explained and added that now the geography is different. “This is far from being only the DPR and LPR. It is also the Kherson region, the Zaporozhye region, and a number of other territories. The process continues consistently and persistently” — Sergei Lavrov explained and added that as the West sends more and more long-range weapons to Ukraine, such as HIMARS, the geographical objectives of the Russian special operation in Ukraine will be pushed further and further.

5 Syria — Ukraine

Syria has terminated the diplomatic relations with Ukraine — the SANA news agency reported while citing a source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry. «Syria has decided to cut off the diplomatic relations with Ukraine in a response to such Ukrainian decision» — the news agency quoted their source in the Syrian Foreign Ministry. Syria believes that Ukraine cut the relations back in 2018 when Ukraine refused to extend visas to the Syrian diplomats. «As a result of that step, the diplomats were unable to do their job. The activities of the embassy were suspended due to the hostile position of the Ukrainian authorities, and their blind obedience to the policies of the West and the USA to Syria» — the source explained. Back on 29th of June, Syria recognized the independence of the DPR and the LPR. The next day, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry publically cut off the diplomatic relations with Syria, while maintaining the consular relations.

6 Transnistria

The President of Pridnestrovie, Vadim Krasnoselsky, proposed to sign a document on the security guarantees for the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic by the participants in the ’’5+2’’ negotiation format, which includes Moldova, Pridnestrovie, and the OSCE. Russia and Ukraine have the role of mediators. The USA and the EU have the roles of observers. According to him, if there is no possibility to work in the «5+2» format, then there should be «1+1» contacts. Meetings of the «5+2» format have not been held since 2019. Vadim Krasnoselsky pointed to the changed geopolitical circumstances. The controversial issues, in his opinion, should be considered while taking into account the request of Moldova to join the EU. «This factor can’t be ignored, given that the interests of Moldova and Transnistria do not coincide» — he explained. Constantine Reztsov, specially for the ANNA NEWS