This bridge, built at great expense on the orders of Vladimir Putin, is used in particular to transport military equipment from the Russian army fighting in Ukraine. “Today at 06:07 a.m. on the road part of the Crimean bridge (…) a car bomb exploded, which caused the fire of seven railway tanks that were going to Crimea,” the committee said. , cited by Russian agencies. Russia on Saturday opened a criminal investigation into the explosion.
The Kremlin spokesman told the Ria Novosti agency that Vladimir Putin had ordered the formation of a government commission to establish the facts. According to the Anti-Terrorism Committee, two road lanes are damaged, but the arch of the bridge is not affected. The head of the Crimean assembly, the regional parliament installed by Russia, Vladimir Konstantinov denounced a coup by “Ukrainian vandals”.
If Ukraine is the cause of the fire and explosion on the Crimean bridge, it would be a snub to Russia that such crucial infrastructure so far from the front could be damaged by Ukrainian forces. Russia has had a series of military setbacks since the beginning of September, its troops being forced to retreat both in the northeast and in the south of the country, in particular in the Kherson region, bordering Crimea, and of which Putin claims responsibility. ‘annexation.
The Kerch Strait
The fire on the vast road and rail bridge linking Russian-annexed Ukrainian Crimea and Russian territory has forced rail and road traffic to a halt. However, it is essential for the transport of people and goods to the peninsula, but also for the troops deployed in Ukraine. Inaugurated in 2018, the bridge, which spans the Kerch Strait, became the symbol of the 2014 annexation.
Russia has always maintained that the bridge poses no risk despite the fighting in Ukraine, but it threatened kyiv with reprisals if Ukrainian forces were to attack this infrastructure or others in Crimea. Several explosions have taken place in recent months at Russian military installations on the peninsula, probably the result of Ukrainian military operations, such as when the Djankoi military base was devastated in August by the explosion of an ammunition depot, causing an exodus of tourists from the region.
The Russian authorities have always been very stingy with explanations concerning Djankoy and other similar incidents at arms depots elsewhere in Russia but close to the Ukrainian border. At Djankoï, Russia had finally recognized that it was a question of “sabotage”, and the Russian army had recognized its responsibility weeks later.