Russia uses human shield tactics as it redirects traffic from Crimea through occupied territories 

The head of the Joint Coordination Press Centre of the Defence Forces of Southern Ukraine, Captain 1st Rank Natalia Humeniuk, said this on Espreso TV.

When asked about the creation of a "death road" of civilians by the Russian army after the explosions on the Crimean bridge, Humeniuk noted that the Russian forces continue to use the same "human shield" tactics for Russian columns.

"It's a constant tactic, they have always hidden behind civilians and it doesn't matter to them whose civilians they are: Ukrainians or Russians. It's important for them to complete the task and report to their dictator that everything is going according to plan," she said.

Humeniuk added that the redirection of these traffic flows to the mainland was predictable.

"They will try to saturate those regions where they feel the uncompromising advance of the Ukrainian Defence Forces. They will try to fill them with civilians in order to complicate our combat work. This is a step of desperation, knowing that there is no other way, they are hiding behind civilians again," she stressed.

Explosion on the Crimean bridge. 

The explosions on the Crimean bridge occurred in the morning of 17 July, after which the occupation authorities declared an "emergency" and accused the Ukrainian military of the attack. Damage to the roadway was found on the spans, and 2 deaths were reported.

The Security Service of Ukraine said that all details of the explosion on the Crimean bridge would be disclos would be disclosed after Ukraine's victory ed after Ukraine's victory in the war against Russia.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin convened an emergency meeting, where he promised "Russia's response" for the explosion on the Crimean bridge.

And Russian media claimed that the Ukrainian Defence Forces had allegedly shelled the "land route" from Russia to Crimea more than 20 times in a month.

Maxar Technologies published satellite images of the Crimean bridge after the nighttime explosion on July 17.

On July 18, Western analysts from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) noted that an attack on the Crimean bridge, which completely disrupted traffic, could complicate the logistics of the occupying Russian forces in southern Ukraine amid the Ukrainian Armed Forces' counteroffensive.