Is it true that the Russian military sank a barge with Ukrainian troops?

On September 14, the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation reported on the destruction of the amphibious landing of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which was trying to cross the Dnieper in the area of ​​the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant. We checked whether there was a landing and whether it really suffered the above-mentioned fate.

A two-minute video entitled “Footage of the destruction of the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ amphibious assault in the area of ​​the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant” appeared on the morning of September 14 in the official Telegram channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense. Then this news was spread by many state media: personnel of the Ministry of Defense were shared RT TV channel, "Russian newspaper", "RIA Novosti" And "Moscow 24"

In the official Telegram channel of the Russian Ministry of Defense published the following commentary to this video: “The crews of Ka-52 helicopters, using Whirlwind missiles, destroyed a barge with military personnel of the Special Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine who were trying to cross the Dnieper... Two Whirlwind guided missiles were fired at the object.” A hit was recorded from the leading side into the bow, and from the driven side - into the stern of the barge.” At the same time, the “surface target” shown in the video with seagulls (or other waterfowl) sitting on it only vaguely resembles a floating craft.

An object of this shape is easy to detect on satellite images - it is located almost exactly 15 km west of the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant.

This “surface target” is visible in images from Google, Yandex, and Bing Maps. Moreover, every year it is visible in the same place, since it is not a barge with Ukrainian Armed Forces military personnel, but a bridge support with gulls, herons and cormorants.

This support was part of the bridge that the German occupiers tried to build between Nikopol and Kamenka-Dneprovskaya in 1943–1944. In Nikopol, the support is well known, in some way it is a local landmark. In 2019, the Nikopol website “Informator” in the historical section told about how the bridge was built: “At the beginning of October 1943, the bridge was ready. He had two large stone bulls on the opposite banks of the Dnieper. Eight spans were thrown across the floodplains. The bridge was made of T-beams on which a wooden deck was laid.”

The bridge was repeatedly bombed by the Soviet Air Force, but the German military restored it each time. The German bridge was finally blown up by German sappers on February 7, 1944. “The memory of the bridge across the Dnieper in Nikopol, which the German occupiers tried to build, has survived to this day - these are two bridge supports, reinforced concrete bulls. One on the right bank was used during the construction of the Three Rolls beer bar, the second “sticks out” in the waters of the Kakhovka “Sea” near Kamenka-Dneprovskaya,” wrote "Informator" website. Note that the given history of the construction and destruction of the bridge may not be entirely accurate in detail. There is not enough information about this in authoritative sources. However, there is no doubt that two supports from it have survived to this day.

On the evening of September 14 pro-state Telegram channel “War on fakes” admittedthat the blow actually struck the support of the old bridge. However, the channel explained that this was intended: supposedly the barge with paratroopers used the support as a temporary shelter. “The support is made in the shape of the letter “U”, which allows several small boats to hide from detection inside the concrete box,” wrote “War on Fakes.” However, there are inconsistencies here too: the length of the “inner” part of the letter “P” is about 10 m, and it is unlikely that a barge or several boats can fit there.

Thus, during the attack by Russian helicopters, the Ukrainian naval landing force could not be harmed - the Ka-52 struck the support of the old bridge, although they failed to completely destroy it.

Cover image: informator.ua

Not true

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