Thread by @HansWorldTravls

🧵Southern #Ukrainian Front & key strategic ports, rail/roadways & bridges...

Overview...

#Odesa in the west, #Mariupol in the east, #Crimea in south (w #Sebastopol & #Kerch) and all roads & rails lead to key crossings of the #Dnieper River near #Kherson...

1/

Occupied Crimea...

Sebastopol in the SW, home to #Russian #BlackSea Fleet (inc. #Ukraine's fleet taken over in 2014) and Krech in the east.

Both have road and rail to Kherson as well as industrial port facilities.

Kerch controls Straight of Kerch, waterway into #AzovSea

2/

#Berdyansk, Mariupol & #Zaporizhzhya

Berdyansk - 2nd Ukrainian indust. port facilities on Sea of Azov after Mariupol

Berdyansk was an offloading facility for Russians to hit rear flank of Ukrainian defenses of Mariupol

Red "escape route" to Zaporizhzhya

Purple -> Kherson

3/

Kherson - mainland Ukraine & west of the Dnieper River

There are 3 crossings...

1. rail & road crossings/bridges just east of Kherson

2. rail & road on #Kakhovka hydroelectric dam

Next crossing is at Zaporizhzhya (city)

Zaporizhzhya #Nuclear PP center of reservoir

4/

5/

Kherson (cont)

The city itself is to the left (west) of the bridge crossings.

The importance of these bridges cannot be understated. If Ukrainian forces are able to gain control of them "on the high ground" they will stop all movement of Russian resupply into S Ukraine.

6/

Kherson (cont)

NW of the city is Kherson airbase. Critical no doubt, however, currently Ukrainian forces have the advantage of holding it (note logistic bottlenecks of bridges to Russian efforts coming from Crimea.

Repelling Russia efforts to take Mykolaiv was huge!

7/

#Mykolaiv-Kherson - the "land bridge" to Odesa

Mykolaiv is the second Ukrainian indust. port on the Black Sea after Odesa.

Russia's efforts to take the city and port was as a beachhead to the mainland & unload materials by ship (a logistical route around Kherson's bridges)

8/

The road to Odesa...

the pink arrows are Kherson-Mykolaiv-Odesa route

Odesa also has industrial port facilities, however well defended by Ukrainian forces.

/end

@WolverineUSMC90 take a look at 🧵. I tried to outline main infrastructure features in the region.

Kherson & Berdynask ports have drafts of 4.9-6.1m

@OfficerEnclave the right purple arrow is at the Korkova Hydroelectric dam with road & rail crossing

Mar 27 Update - Ukrainians in Russian occupied city of Nova Kakhovka continue to hold peaceful protests in the city south of the strategic dam/locks/Crimean aqueduct structures

Fresh water in southern Ukraine and Crimea...

Major aqueducts from the Kakhovka Reservoir in blue

#Kakhovka Hydroelectric dam (315MW) & locks has both rail and road services across it.

If Russian blows the dam (like #Oskil east of #Iyzum) could -

1) substantial damage S side Dnieper near Kherson, N side overlooks the river by 100+ ft;

2) loss navigation of entire Dnieper;

3) loss irrigation water source for "land bridge" & Crimea;

4) loss of cooling water capacity for Zaporizhzhya Nuclear PP (it would need to be closed until dam repaired and reservoir refilled)

@ovakiv curious on your input on the major water engineering projects with 50% of UKR water resources used for irrigation.

I'm looking at system from Dnieper->Lyman->Donetsk also

And this article also.. politico.eu/article/voda-d…

Kherson Oblast & Dnieper River/Delta details from Kakhovka dam east to the Black Sea.

4 images with increasing detail of Kherson city & access points; ports, bridges, rail, air.