Dhe Crimean Bridge, the only direct link between Russia and the peninsula annexed in 2014, has been severely damaged by explosions. Russian authorities said Saturday morning at 6:07 am local time on the bridge “a truck was blown up, resulting in the ignition of seven cars of a train with fuel tankers”. The train was heading towards Crimea.
The bridge is an important supply route for the Russian occupying forces in southern Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin was informed about the “disaster” and set up a commission to investigate the causes, said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. Two ministers went to the site of the explosions. According to initial reports in the Russian media, people “were not harmed”.
“Happy Birthday Mr President”
Videos and photos quickly made the rounds showing burning tankers and the badly damaged highway section of the bridge. Accordingly, part of the bridge with two lanes is in the water. A little later it was announced that the fire had been extinguished and that Russian vacationers in Crimea would be brought home by other routes.
Representatives of Ukraine commented on the process on Twitter without speaking of their own involvement. National Security Council chief Oleksiy Danylov circulated pictures of the bridge along with a video of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.” That referred to Putin, who turned 70 on Friday.
An aide to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy Mykhailo Podoliak wrote: “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything belonging to the Russian occupiers must be expelled.” it shows the burning bridge and a picture of a rocket battery on a huge inflatable boat.
As early as 2014, Russia had the peninsula the size of Sicily occupied by soldiers without badges, the so-called “green men”, and after a “referendum” declared it part of Russia. The annexation was not recognized internationally. In 2018 Russia built the bridge from its mainland to Crimea. In the course of major maneuvers around Ukraine in 2021, Moscow declared parts of the waters around Crimea closed to non-Russian ships for months.
After the start of the war on February 24, Russian troops advanced from Crimea to mainland Ukraine and, despite the Ukrainian counter-offensive in recent weeks, are still occupying large areas there. War only came to the peninsula in early August, with explosions at several military airports used by the Russians. Kyiv did not explicitly say so, and it was only in September that army chief Valeriy Saluschnyi spoke of “successful rocket attacks on the air bases in Crimea”.
