Russia - threadbanned users in OP

First by land...

Second by sea....

Third by air 🤞

Sounds like a cluster bombs paradise.

Lol

As much as I want it to be a UA hit on the bridge, I'm struggling to figure out how a blast below would cause the deck to be damaged in the way it is.

It looks much more like a structural support gave way.

Interestingly, Olga Skabayeva and Russia 1 are making no attempt to play down the seriousness of the attack on the bridge or the damage that was done:

That bridge is going to collapse sooner or later, they aren’t built to sustain multiple explosive attacks

She wants revenge. A crater where Kyiv is.

She will soon realise like most that the dear leader hasn’t the balls because he knows Russia will be obliterated.

When will these empty heads wake up and smell the coffee?

A massive Russian counter attack seems unlikely, a small local attack might be possible though.

The current Russian aim is to conduct an active defence. The goal is to hold as much territory as possible while causing maximum losses to the attacking Ukrainians. Ukraine generally attacks with well trained and equipped formations whereas Russia tends to defend the zero lines with convict/contract units. Attrition is the Russians aim now. They are in defence and trained assault infantry is a limited quantity for both sides.

There's also longer term. Putin misjudged his invasion, but since his illusion was shattered after the Kharkiv defeat he has been trying to correct that. We already have seen how Russia has surprised in missile and drone production. They will do like wise with artillery and tanks.

How awake are people in NATO to this? I don't know, but some of the signs don't look hopeful. Russia on the other hand realises there's a reasonable chance they could lose the war and they are reacting to this.

I’d say you’re delighted.

We don't know what's happening yet and no, I wouldn't be 'delighted', why would I be? I despise Russia and everything the cesspit stands for. I just never bought in to the narrative that Ukraine could achieve what it wanted without any evidence.

Best wait until we know what's happening. There might be no large offensive at all. It could be strategic posture to stretch Ukraine forces.

I think the next few days will show how depleted the Russian army really is, personally I would not be surprised by a major escalation by Russia, unlikely but at worst an EMP burst or other tactical nuke, maybe on Snake Island just to demonstrate they mean business. I don't think Putin is scared of any nuclear retaliation as he knows he has much better nukes available than the west, and the more recently produced Russian weapons are so powerful and flexible they make up for the fact that a good deal of the older weapons are not in good shape.

The Lancet drone is one of the most successful weapons in Ukraine, I have watched many videos of it destroying western armour. The Bulgarian news agency has a article on how production has tripled and shows huge stocks awaiting delivery. This is the new version of the Lancet which is now capable of a coordinated swarm attack, maybe these will play a role in a retaliation with conventional weapons.

Russia has been very vocal about their hatred for the UK in particular, and I see today they also blame the UK for involvement in the latest bridge attack. Given that the Russian navy has been surveying all the transatlantic cables over the past year perhaps an infrastructure attack on the UK is on the cards.

Whatever the plan is I think Putin will feel he needs to act in the next few days otherwise the odds of being overthrown seem far more likely. Like some other posters on here I personally don't believe Ukraine has the manpower or equipment to fully liberate their territory, and the only way I can see a positive outcome is by Putin's removal from power, or a mass rebellion of the Russian front lines, lets hope something positive happens soon, the loss of human life is staggering and the longer this conflict goes on people increasingly see the deaths as daily statistics, and not they human tragedy they really are.

Lancet article:

If the Kerch bridge isn't going to reopen until September and November that's a big win. Ukraine should really target the rail bridge. That's would hurt logistics. And come September they should target it again. This bridge should be permanently out of action.

"he knows he has much better nukes available than the west, and the more recently produced Russian weapons are so powerful and flexible they make up for the fact that a good deal of the older weapons are not in good shape."