Despite the use of divers and combat dolphins, Moscow cannot protect the strategically important connection with Crimea. “All this is the work of the Kiev regime,” Kremlin spokesman Peskov suspects.
Cursing, screaming, exasperated drivers. Some just want to escape from the holiday paradise, others want to finally reach the peninsula beach after 24 hours driving from the Moscow metropolitan area. On Monday, long queues of cars formed on both sides of the small Crimean bridge, just 70 meters long, near the village of Chongar, occupied by the Russian army. Moscow’s Ministry of Transport had previously advised travelers “due to an emergency” to take the detour through the destroyed Ukrainian city of Mariupol and Melitopol, which is regularly threatened by Ukrainian guerrillas, to Crimea: it’s at least a six-hour drive across of occupied areas. southern Ukraine – on a route on which several army trucks and other military vehicles are also on the road.
The “emergency” occurred at 3:05 am on the 19-kilometer Crimean Bridge near Kerch, when what are believed to be two Ukrainian army combat drones bombed the road. A Russian couple was killed, but their daughter survived with serious injuries. Above all, however, a hole the size of several cars was blown in the road. One, possibly two bridge piers are said to have been seriously damaged. The road runs from Crimea, occupied since 2014, to mainland Russia. Kiev not only hinders peak season tourism on the Ukrainian peninsula, which was already popular in Soviet times, but also makes it difficult to defend against the counter-offensive on the southern front. This runs 70 to 100 kilometers north of the alternative route via Mariupol and Chongar.