A heavy explosion and fire early on Saturday badly damaged the strategic bridge connecting the Russian-annexed Ukrainian territory of Crimea with Russia, resulting in parts of the road surface collapsing into the sea in two places.
The damaged bridge is a serious blow to Russia, as it is of strategic importance for transporting heavy military equipment. The country's anti-terrorism commission claims that a car bomb caused the destruction, Ukraine calls it "a beginning."
"Today at 06:07 (local time), a car bomb exploded the car section of the Crimean Bridge, causing seven fuel-filled train cars on their way to Crimea to catch fire," Russia's anti-terrorism commission said, adding that the bomb was hidden in a truck.
Footage shows that the train has been on fire for hours, and the motorway next to the railway line is badly damaged, with parts of the road surface just lying in the water. Two spans of the bridge for car traffic have collapsed.
Officially, Moscow has not yet pointed the finger at Ukraine, but a Russian official in Crimea called the attack the work of "Ukrainian vandals." saying that "they put their bloody paws on our bridge and now they have done something to be proud of. This while in all the years the area was part of Ukraine, they never built anything useful in Crimea."
Meanwhile, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called this morning's events "a beginning," but the country's authorities have officially not claimed responsibility. "Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," he wrote on Twitter.
The bridge is 19 km long and was built by Russia in 2018 after its illegal annexation of Crimea to create a smooth connection between Moscow and the peninsula. For the Russian army, the bridge is very important as a supply line.
Additionally, the bridge's symbolism can hardly be overstated: it makes the literal connection between Russia and the illegally annexed Ukrainian territory.
If Ukraine is indeed responsible for the explosion on the Crimean bridge, it is a slap in the Russian face that Ukrainian troops manage to seriously damage crucial infrastructure so far from the frontline.
