Kerch Bridge, a vital link between the Russian mainland and the Crimean peninsula was destroyed by a car bomb explosion as Ukraine launched a fierce counteroffensive against the invading Russian forces. Some of the train cars can be seen on fire on the bridge in videos taken at the scene of the explosion. The bridge was closed to traffic for a while.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin opened the bridge in 2018 to link the Crimean Peninsula to the country’s transportation system, four years after Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula. Building this 19-kilometer bridge across the Kerch Strait was a major undertaking for Russia and Crimea. There are rail and car parts in it.
An explosion tore across Russia’s bridge across the Kerch strait to Crimea in the early hours of this morning.
The bridge is an important conduit for Russian supply routes in Ukraine and a huge source of Putin's prestige. This is a hugely damaging blow. pic.twitter.com/eWyWPn54Xw
— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 8, 2022
A fuel storage tank or something like it caught fire on the Crimean Bridge but the bridge’s navigable arches were unharmed, according to an aide to the head of Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, as quoted by the Russian news agency TASS. The bridge will open to the public in 2020.
The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down.
What’s next in line, russkies?
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 8, 2022
The Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that an explosion occurred at the bridge at around 6:00 a.m., damaging it. The vehicle section of the road partially collapsed as a result of the explosion. Similarly, a freight train on the adjacent rail line caught fire as a result of the blast.
A ferry service across the Kerch Strait will begin later today, according to TASS, Crimea’s Head Sergey Aksyonov. Some news outlets also claim that the bridge was attacked by Ukrainian forces as part of their counteroffensive following Russia’s annexation of four regions of Ukraine.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson are now part of Russia due to the annexation of those regions by Russia but Ukraine is giving Russia a hard time on all fronts. The Ukrainian Army has made consistent gains since beginning an offensive in Kherson at the end of last month, drawing rare criticism of Moscow’s war effort from even pro-Russian figures.
During the ongoing defensive operation, Zelenskyy said, “the Ukrainian army is making a rather fast and powerful advance in the south of our country.” Warriors of ours never cease fighting for what they believe in. And soon we will drive the occupier from every inch of our territory.
