Bridge To Crimea Is Damaged By A Truck Bomb, Harming Russian Supply Lines

(MENAFN- Straits Research)

A bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula with Russia partially collapsed on Saturday due to an explosion, destroying a vital supply route for the Kremlin's sputtering war effort in southern Ukraine. According to Russian authorities, the explosion was triggered by a truck bomb, and three persons died. On Saturday, October 8, 2022, near Kerch, a helicopter drops water to put out a fire on the Crimean Bridge that spans the Kerch Strait between the Russian mainland and the Crimean Peninsula.

Although Moscow did not assign responsibility, the speaker of Crimea's regional parliament, supported by the Kremlin, quickly accused Ukraine of being responsible for the explosion. Although some applauded the damage and Ukrainian officials frequently threatened to destroy the bridge, Kyiv refrained from taking the blame.

After the explosion, several Russian MPs urged Vladimir Putin to proclaim a“counterterrorism operation” as a reprisal, dropping the euphemism“special military operation” that had minimized the scope of the combat to regular Russians.

The Kremlin might use such a move to increase security services' authority, prohibit rallies, enforce censorship, impose travel restrictions, and broaden the partial military mobilization that Putin ordered last month.

After the explosion, the Russian Defense Ministry declared that Gen. Sergei Surovikin, the head of the air force, would be in charge of all Russian forces in Ukraine. Surovikin, who over the summer was given command of Russian forces in southern Ukraine, had previously been in control of Russian forces in Syria and was charged with ordering a merciless bombardment that essentially destroyed the city of Aleppo.

However, Moscow keeps losing on the battlefield.

Amid a continuing Ukrainian counteroffensive, a Kremlin-backed official in the Kherson area of Ukraine announced a partial evacuation of inhabitants from the southern province, one of four illegitimately acquired by Moscow last week. Children and their parents and the elderly could be evacuated to two southern Russian districts because Kherson was getting“ready for a terrible era,” according to Kirill Stremousov. He works for the government-run RIA Novosti news agency in Russia.

The 19-kilometer (12-mile) Kerch Bridge, which spans the Kerch Strait and connects the Black Sea with the Sea of Azov, is a visible representation of Moscow's claims to the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014. The longest bridge in Europe, which cost $3.6 billion and was inaugurated in 2018, is essential for sustaining Russia's military activities in southern Ukraine.

While Russia established a land corridor along the Sea of Azov after seizing the regions north of Crimea early in its invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine is waging a counteroffensive to recapture that territory.

The National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia reported that a truck bomb resulted in the“partial collapse of two parts of the bridge” by igniting seven fuel-carrying railroad carriages. According to Russia's Investigative Committee, the explosion killed a man and a woman in a car on the bridge. What happened to the third victim or the truck driver was not mentioned.

The explosion occurred even though every car crossing the bridge was subject to cutting-edge explosives screenings, prompting a barrage of negative remarks from Russian war bloggers who urged Moscow to react by attacking Ukrainian civilian infrastructure.

An individual from the southern Russian province of Krasnodar owned the exploded truck. According to Russia's Investigative Committee, the man's residence was reportedly investigated, and experts were examining the truck's path.

The bridge's vehicular and train traffic was temporarily interrupted. The flow of traffic on one of the two lines that survived the blast began on Saturday afternoon, Sergey Aksyonov, the head of the region supported by Russia, stated on Telegram. Vehicles were subjected to a“comprehensive inspection procedure.”

Slowly, rail traffic started to resume. On Saturday night, two passenger trains departed from Sevastopol and Simferopol in Crimea and traveled in the direction of the bridge. Passenger ferry services between the Russian mainland and Crimea were reinstituted on Sunday.

According to the Russian Defense Ministry, its forces in the south are obtaining the supplies they require via water and along a land corridor along the Sea of Azov. According to Russia's Energy Ministry, Crimea has enough fuel to last 15 days.

After learning of the explosion, Putin commanded the formation of a government committee to handle the crisis.

The speaker of Crimea's regional parliament attributed the explosion to Ukraine, supported by the Kremlin, which also downplayed the extent of the damage and promised that the bridge would be quickly repaired.

The head of the lower house's foreign affairs committee in Russia, Leonid Slutsky, warned that if Ukraine was to blame,“consequences will be inevitable.”

The leader of the Russian Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, stated that the“terror incident” should serve as a wake-up call.

He said the special operation needs to be changed into a counterterrorist operation, adding that long overdue actions haven't been taken yet.

In response to the explosion, Russia should attack vital Ukrainian infrastructure, including power plants, bridges, and railroads, according to Just Russia faction leader Sergei Mironov.

Local authorities made conflicting comments in Crimea over what the would mean for locals. The peninsula is a well-liked vacation spot for Russian visitors, and Sevastopol, a significant city and a naval station, is located there. According to a Russian tourism organization, there were 50,000 tourists on vacation in Crimea on Saturday.

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