Ukraine Claims Strike on Key Bridge Linking Russia to Crimea

Ukraine’s SBU security service reported on Tuesday that it had struck the road and rail bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean peninsula with explosives. The bridge, a significant supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine, was said to have been hit below the water level.

The SBU claims to have used 2,420 pounds of explosives that were detonated early in the morning. The attack reportedly damaged underwater pillars of the bridge. The official Russian outlet responsible for providing regular status updates on the bridge confirmed a suspension of its operation for approximately three hours between 4 a.m. and 7 a.m. local time. However, it offered no reason for this temporary halt in operation and reported that the bridge had been reopened and was functioning as normal.

The SBU’s statement indicated that this was not the first such attack, stating, “Previously, we hit the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition underwater.” The security service added that this operation had been prepared over a period of several months and shared video footage that purported to show an explosion next to one of the bridge’s support pillars.

However, it is important to note that the exact location could not be confirmed from the structure and bearing elements of the bridge that matched satellite and file imagery of the area. Furthermore, the timing of the video’s recording remains unverified. Russian military bloggers have suggested that the attack was unsuccessful and speculated that it may have been carried out by a Ukrainian sea drone.

The 12-mile Crimea Bridge over the Kerch Strait represents the only direct link between the transport network of Russia and the Crimean peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The bridge was a flagship project for Russian President Vladimir Putin and was used by Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when they crossed it to reach Crimea before seizing parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson and southeastern Zaporizhzhia regions.