Attack on Crimea bridge: What happened, why it is significant

Also known as the Kerch bridge, the structure has come under attack amid the Ukrainian counteroffensive, which began weeks ago, against the Russian forces to recapture several lost territories. This is the second time that the bridge — a crucial supply route for Moscow — has been targeted. In October 2022, it was temporarily shut down after a massive explosion.

What happened?   

Quoting Russia’s Grey Zone, a Telegram channel affiliated with the Wagner mercenary group, Al Jazeera reported that the two strikes took place on the bridge at 03:04 am (5:34 am IST) and 03:20 am (5:50 IST) on Monday.

Soon after the incident, Vyacheslav Gladkov, governor of the western Russian region of Belgorod, said in a Telegram statement that two people died and their daughter had been injured in the attack. However, he labelled the incident as just an “emergency” and didn’t reveal any details.

Subsequently, a video posted by Crimea 24 online news channel showed a section of the bridge tilted and hanging down, but there was no indication that its supports were damaged or any of its parts had fallen into the water. Traffic resumed later in the day.

Who carried out the attack?

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has categorically blamed Ukraine for orchestrating the attack, claiming it involved the “direct participation” of the United Kingdom and the United States.

Although Ukraine hasn’t taken responsibility for the incident yet and said it could have been an act of provocation from Moscow, a source with Ukraine’s intelligence service, the SBU, told the BBC that the agency had attacked with the help of the navy’s special forces.

What is the importance of the bridge?

The Crimea bridge is a crucial structure for Russia as it is the only direct link between the transport network of the country and the Crimean peninsula. Inaugurated in 2018, four years after Russia annexed Crimea, it’s a part of the route that supplies fuel, food and other products to the region, where the port of Sevastopol is the historic home base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet, Reuters reported.

The bridge’s significance increased after the Russia-Ukraine war broke out last year in February. Russian convoys, carrying weapons, vehicles and fuel, frequently use the route to reach Ukrainian territories, especially southern Ukraine’s Kherson region and some of the adjoining Zaporizhia province.

A CNN report noted: “If the Russian military’s use of the crossing is hampered, its supply lines to forces in southern Ukraine would become more tenuous. Russia has used the Crimean railroads to ferry supplies to forces in Kherson, and several rail hubs in both Crimea and Kherson have been attacked by long-range Ukrainian rockets.”