For the second time in less than a year, explosives have damaged the bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, the southern Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014. The 12-mile bridge, which is also paralleled by a road and a railway line, is a heavily guarded piece of infrastructure of great importance to Russia.
Initial reports suggest Monday’s blasts were not as violent as last October, when a blast caused part of the road bridge to plunge into the water.
What happened?
Before dawn on Monday, Russia’s top official in Crimea Sergei Aksyonov announced via news app Telegram that traffic on the bridge over the Kerch Strait had been suspended due to an emergency.
The Russian Counter-Terrorism Committee later said the bridge was hit by two sea drones, which appear to be separate explosions.
A Russian-appointed official in southern Ukraine, Vladimir Rogov, wrote on Telegram that two bridge spans had been damaged. A couple were killed and their daughter injured in the attack, a Russian official said.
According to Russian state news media, rail traffic along the bridge had resumed on Monday morning, albeit with delays. Videos and photos confirmed by the New York Times showed damage to the road, and Russian officials said motorists should use alternative routes.
What are Russia and Ukraine saying?
Russian officials blamed Ukraine for the blasts, and Russia’s National Counter-Terrorism Committee said it was investigating them as a terrorist attack.
A spokesman for Ukraine’s Security Service, Artem Dekhtiarenko, cheered the attack without saying directly that it was carried out by Ukrainian forces, in line with Kiev’s policy of deliberate obscurity about attacks on Russian-held territory. He described the attack using the term “cotton,” which Ukrainian officials use to describe explosions in Russian-held areas.
“We are watching with interest how one of the symbols of the Putin regime once again failed to withstand the military strain,” Dechtiarenko said in a comment on Ukrinform’s website.
Why is the bridge important?
Opened in 2018, the bridge across the Kerch Strait is an important supply route for goods en route to the Crimean Peninsula. It also brings Russian tourists to the region’s beaches, which are most popular in summer.
Before beginning its full-scale invasion in February 2022, the Russian military used the bridge to transport supplies for its troops in the region, including to the naval port of Sevastopol, home of its Black Sea Fleet. As of last year, the bridge has also been an important channel for reinforcements and supplies to Russian troops that have taken control of areas in southern Ukraine.
For the Kremlin, the bridge is a symbol of the connection it wants to establish between Crimea and Russia. Russian President Vladimir V. Putin drove a truck the 12-mile route when it opened, and two months after it was damaged last October, he drove over again to inspect repairs.
What are the possible consequences of the attack?
A day after the bridge was damaged last October, Russia launched an airstrike to shut down Ukraine’s energy supply. Power plants and other infrastructure were attacked with drones and rockets for months.
Every attack on the bridge is celebrated by the Ukrainians. However, disruptions to the route also serve a military purpose, hampering Russia’s efforts to resupply its forces and repel a Ukrainian counter-offensive that began last month. The bridge is considered an important traffic artery for the Russian occupying forces in the southern Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhia and Donetsk.
According to military experts, in recent months Ukraine has made targeting Russian logistics hubs a priority of its war strategy, using missiles supplied by the US and other allies.