Explosions sounded in Crimea and Russian bombing of Ukrainian sites in Zaporizhzhia

 Russian media in Crimea announced that explosions occurred in the Oktyabrskoye area in the heart of the region, and confirmed that its air force had destroyed 10 gatherings of Ukrainian forces on the Zaporizhzhia axis.

The pro-Russian governor of Crimea said Ukraine had tried to attack the infrastructure.

And the Russian TASS news agency reported that Moscow banned traffic for a short time on the Crimean Bridge, and asked those on the bridge and at the checkpoint to remain calm and follow the instructions of the transport security officers, without disclosing the reasons for the traffic ban. Traffic on the bridge has subsequently resumed.

For his part, the governor of the Russian province of Belgorod accused the Ukrainian forces of bombing a village in the province with cluster munitions.

On another axis, the media spokesman for the Russian "Vostok" forces, Oleg Chekhov, said that Russian aviation targeted more than 10 points of the Ukrainian forces in the regions of Pyatikhatki, Robotino, and Priutnoye in Zaporizhia province, noting that the artillery succeeded in repelling a Ukrainian attack near the city of Robotino.

Earlier, the Russian army announced its control of 5 sites and 4 observation posts in the direction of Dvorechnsk.

A spokesman for the Russian army's western region said that the Ukrainian forces lost more than one battalion, a Polish-made missile system, and an American missile system. The spokesman added that the Russian forces managed to shoot down a helicopter and a drone in the Liman area.

In Kherson, the Russian authorities confirmed that their forces had thwarted two attempts by Ukrainian forces to cross the Dnieper River.

For its part, the pro-Russian authorities said they destroyed five boats and killed more than thirty Ukrainian soldiers.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian Air Force said that it had destroyed five attack drones and nine other reconnaissance drones for Russian forces during the past 24 hours.

For his part, the spokesman for the Eastern Group of Ukrainian Forces, Serhiy Shervaty, said that his country's forces are making progress towards the city of Pakhmut in Donetsk Province.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky considered that the bridge connecting Crimea to Russia "brings war, not peace," and is, therefore, a military goal.

Explosions on the Crimean Bridge on Monday killed two civilians and put part of the bridge out of service.

The bridge has recently returned to full operation after it was severely damaged in a similar attack last October.

Ukraine welcomed Monday's attack, but officials did not claim direct responsibility for it. For its part, Moscow blamed Ukraine.

Recall that Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014.

Kyiv says it wants to retake Crimea as it resists an all-out Russian invasion that began in February last year.

In this context, Bulgaria decided to send about 100 armored vehicles to Ukraine, in a precedent for the country located in the Balkans, which had previously refrained from directly assisting Kyiv due to its strong historical relations with Moscow.

And the Bulgarian parliament approved, by a large majority of 148 votes against 52 votes, the proposal of the new pro-European government, which launched a new strategy after it succeeded previous interim governments that were keen not to interfere in the conflict.

The armored vehicles are of the Soviet-designed BTR, which were purchased in the 1980s and have never been used.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited Sofia in early July to discuss accelerating supplies to his country.

Since this visit, the government in Bulgaria announced an unprecedented aid package, including weapons and missiles, and did not want to provide details because the matter is divided in the country, but in practice, the weapons factories have been operating at full capacity since the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Industrial exports rose, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, with the export of equipment to other countries, which will be delivered to Ukraine.

Source: Agencies