Ukraine | On Monday 17 July, the Crimean Bridge, which connects the annexed Crimea peninsula with mainland Russia, was closed to traffic after several explosions were reported. This strategically important bridge was already damaged by an attack nine months ago.
The Crimean governor said that traffic on the Crimean Bridge had stopped due to an “emergency situation”, Sergey AksionovIn a message on Telegram, she added that law enforcement was analyzing the situation. In another letter, Sergei Aksenov asked residents of the peninsula to “refrain from traveling through the Crimean bridge” and to choose other routes “for security reasons”.
According to the news agency RBC-UkraineThe “emergency” in question is an attack on the bridge carried out by the Ukrainian navy and intelligence services. The Ukrainian News Agency quoted a source from the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), as saying that the attack was carried out using “drones”.
Some Ukrainian journalists have tweeted unverified footage of what appears to be severe damage to a section of the bridge.
Russian officials reported two deaths. The daughter of the two alleged victims was wounded in the attack, he said News agency.
The Crimean Bridge is of strategic and symbolic importance to Russia, as it connects the annexed Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, this was the only road and rail link between Crimea and Russia. In October 2022, a section of the bridge is badly damaged by a powerful explosion. The Kremlin blamed the explosion on the Ukrainian special services, Vladimir PutinHe described the attack as a “terrorist act”. The Russians claimed that the attack was carried out with an explosive device mounted on a truck. The explosion damaged part of the road bridge and caused a train carrying fuel to burn on the adjacent railway bridge. Initially, Ukraine did not directly claim responsibility for the attack, but strongly indicated that it was involved. Hanna MaliarUkraine’s deputy defense minister, finally admitted publicly earlier this month that this was the “first strike” on the bridge and that it was carried out to “disrupt Russian logistics”.
Translated article from the American magazine Forbes – Author: Siladitya Ray
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