Russia accuses US of direct role in war

The Russian military yesterday accused the United States of being “directly involved” in the war in Ukraine by providing Kyiv with real-time information that allowed it to launch assaults on Russian targets using Us-supplied systems. The accusation marks a major escalation of rhetoric. A spokesman for the Russian defence ministry yesterday quoted a

Daily Telegraph interview with a top Ukrainian intelligence official to support his claim.

RUSSIA has built “phantom bridges” in Ukraine in the hope of evading Western precision weapons systems that have crippled its war efforts in the south of the country.

Kyiv’s forces have used US Himars missile launchers to destroy bridges across the Dnipro river in Kremlin-controlled Kherson in preparation for what is anticipated to be a major counteroffensive to retake the region.

By knocking out the crossings, Ukraine has severely hampered Russia’s logistical routes that it uses to resupply its troops, leaving thousands of battlestricken soldiers at risk.

Radar imagery published in the wake of a strike on the 1,000m Antonivskyi Bridge, which Western intelligence sources said rendered the crossing unusable, suggested Russian forces had begun constructing a temporary pontoon to ferry supplies and civilians across the river. But a subsequent analysis of satellite and video footage by The War Zone online magazine revealed Moscow had instead deployed radar reflectors alongside the damaged bridge to make a new parallel crossing appear on satellite-based radar systems while repairs are being carried out on the actual bridge.

Experts at the Institute for the Study of War, a US think tank, said the pyramid-shaped reflectors had been set up to “prevent Ukrainian missile strikes”.

In recent footage shared online of Russian efforts to ferry supplies, troops and civilians across the Dnipro, the metallic objects can be seen floating in the water beside the Antonivskyi Bridge. The same counter-measure was seemingly used last month when the Kremlin’s forces were spotted moving barges covered in radar reflectors alongside the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects Crimea and Russia, to protect it from potential aerial attacks.

The War Zone’s analysts, however, questioned the effectiveness of the reflector’s abilities to guard against Himars bombardment.

“These radar reflectors, though, would likely not be successful in confusing a Himars rocket strike as the munitions are not radar-guided, making the recently discovered ‘phantom bridge’ of radar reflectors a somewhat confusing addition,” Emma Helfrich and Tyler Rogoway wrote.

The Russian defence ministry yesterday claimed its forces had destroyed six of the Himars systems, a claim previously denied by both Kyiv and the US.

‘These reflectors would not be successful in confusing Himars as the munitions are not radar-guided’