Crimea Bridge Partially Destroyed by Explosion
A huge explosion has destroyed part of the Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea, a famous symbol of the Kremlin’s annexation of the southern peninsula, one of Vladimir Putin’s prestige projects and a vital logistical link for the Russian military.
The bad news came early Saturday morning, October 8, when all Russia’s top officials and military were resting after Vladimir Putin’s birthday the day before. A section of the road bridge collapsed into the Kerch strait after the blast, and a fierce fire engulfed a train on the parallel railway connection, creating a vast column of black smoke. Elements of panic among the population of Crimea quickly became the number one topic for television and social media. Many locals and tourists attempted to leave the peninsula immediately. Huge traffic jams formed on the Crimean side of the bridge. The parallel road towards Russia still appeared passable in images from the blast site.
The attack, which came the day after Putin’s 70th birthday, is a major blow to Russian military prestige and its supply chains for the invasion and the defence of Crimea.
According to The Guardian, Moscow had claimed the bridge was protected by impenetrable layers of defences, ranging from “military dolphins” to the latest and sophisticated weapons systems, but had also threatened harsh retaliation if it was targeted.
Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for hitting the bridge, but senior officials publicly celebrated and on Saturday morning the only real question about the attack was not who ordered it, but how it was carried out.
The Russian Federation has already set up a committee to investigate the attack and within hours said three people had been killed and blamed a truck bomb for the blast. It added that they identified the driver of the exploded truck as a resident of the southern Russian Kuban region.
Russian President Vladimir Putin On Sunday, October 9, accused Ukraine of orchestrating the powerful blast that damaged a key bridge linking Russia and Crimea the day before, describing the explosion as an “act of terrorism”.
“There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure,” Putin said in a video on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
“This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services,” Putin said.
Putin was meeting Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, who presented findings of an inquiry into what he said was Saturday’s explosion of a vehicle and subsequent fire on the bridge.
He said that the track had gone through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, South Ossetia and Russia’s Krasnodar region before arriving on the bridge.
The damage to the bridge, which had been an imposing symbol of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula, came amid battlefield defeats for the Russian military, and could further cloud Kremlin reassurances that the conflict is going to plan, Reuters reports.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, appeared to suggest Kyiv’s responsibility, tweeting: “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything belonging to the Russian occupation must be expelled.”
The chair of Ukraine’s national security and defence council, Oleskiy Danilov, tweeted a video of damage to the bridge, spliced with a video of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mr President”, in a barely veiled dig at Putin.
As soon as Vladimir Putin made a statement about an act of terrorism by Ukraine, Mykhailo Podolyak reacted immediately.
“Putin accuses Ukraine of terrorism? Sounds too cynical even for Russia. Less than 24 hours ago ru-planes hit residential area of Zaporizhzhia with 12 missiles, killing 13 people and injuring more than 50. There is only one terrorist state here and the whole world knows who it is.”
This “exchange of courtesies” means nothing less than a new level of escalation of the conflict, which experts on both sides of the front line have long been talking about. We can expect further escalation over the next few weeks. October could well reassert its status as one of the most critical months in Russian history. And world history as well.
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