ISW explains why Russia keeping silent about AFU's attack on Chonhar Bridge in Crimea

The Institute for the Study of War assumed that the lack of reaction of the Russian "military forces" to the strike by the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) on the Chonhar Bridge is due to the fact that the Kremlin gave an instruction not to cover failures in the operation of critical ground communication lines.

This follows from a statement by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Analysts have said that the lack of reaction by the Russian military to the Ukrainian strike on the Chonhar Bridge is a noticeable break in Russian reporting on the war in Ukraine and may indicate that the Kremlin has ordered the Russian military to refrain from covering certain topics.

Thus, the AFU reported on July 29 that Ukrainian troops had successfully attacked the Chonhar Bridge. And ISW did not observe any discussion by Russian "warlords" about the Ukrainian strike or Russian "warlords" promoting the statement of the head of the occupying so-called administration of the Kherson Region, Vladimir Saldo, that Russian forces allegedly intercepted 12 Ukrainian Strom Shadow cruise missiles aimed at the bridge.

It said the only other Russian source to comment on the strikes was a local Russian news channel Telegram, which shared Russian claims that the bridge was closed to traffic.

At the same time, the report recalled that the Russian "militants" reacted to the Ukrainian attack on the Chonhar Bridge on June 22 with mass indignation and concern.

It is noted that the "warlords" of the aggressor state regularly commented on Ukrainian strikes on Russian logistics. According to ISW analysts, it is highly unlikely that they would voluntarily ignore the Ukrainian strike on the bridge.

"However, a general fear of Kremlin punishment is unlikely to have led to such a near-universal lack of coverage of an important event, and it is more likely that a specific directive from the Kremlin not to cover disruptions to critical landlines of communication caused this lack of reporting," the report said.

It will be recalled that the AFU reported that on the morning of July 29, the AFU successfully struck the Chonhar Bridge.

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, Nataliya Humeniuk, spokesperson for the South Operational Command, commented on the strike by the AFU on the Chonhar Bridge, calling the operation a filigree job.