July 17, 2023
An “emergency incident” has been reported on the Crimean Bridge, halting traffic on the only link between the annexed peninsula and Russia, a Moscow-backed official said Monday.
Sergey Aksenov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea, did not specify the nature of the incident, but multiple Telegram channels reported strikes on the bridge, which serves as a vital logistical node for Moscow’s military in its war against Ukraine.
Two strikes were allegedly carried out on the bridge around 3 a.m. local time, damaging part of the bridge, according to the Telegram channel Grey Zone, which supports the Wagner mercenary group led by Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Explosions were heard around 3:04 a.m. and 3:20 a.m. local time, Grey Zone and popular Crimean blogger ‘TalipoV Online Z’ said on Telegram.
CNN is unable to verify the reports.
Last October, a huge blast partially damaged the bridge, causing parts of it to collapse.
Videos posted on Telegram by Baza, Grey Zone and other Crimean news outlets appeared to show part of the bridge collapsed and a vehicle damaged in the latest incident.
At least two people were killed and another wounded, Russian Telegram channel Baza posted.
Russian state media reported on Monday there has been an “emergency incident” that had stopped traffic.
Emergency responders and law enforcement have been dispatched to the scene, said Aksenov, the head of Crimea.
Aksenov urged residents and those traveling to and from Crimea to choose an alternative land route.
The nearly 12-mile bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest in Europe and carries both road and rail traffic.
The bridge was severely damaged on October 8 when a fuel tanker exploded and destroyed a large section of the road.
It holds huge strategic and symbolic importance for Russia, which built the 19-kilometer bridge at a cost of around $3.7 billion after Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It was the physical expression of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective to take over Ukraine and bind it to Russia forever.
It is a critical artery for supplying Crimea with both its daily needs and supplies for the military, in addition to fuel and goods for civilians.
A Russian-backed official of the peninsula, Elena Elekchyan, said Crimea is well supplied with fuel, food and industrial goods.
After the October 8 blast, Russia quickly set about repairs to the span. It was fully reopened to traffic in February.
Earlier this month, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar made what appeared to be the clearest admission yet that Ukrainian forces were responsible for the October attack.
In another report from Kyiv Independent, it says, Russian-backed local officials are stating that an ’emergency’ took place in the area of the 145th pillar of the bridge from the Krasnodar region.
Of course, I hope that a span or two were dropped into the water, but this seems unlikely at the moment. At any rate, this puts more scare into the cockroaches. It will certainly not help the ailing tourist industry and the real estate market on the Peninsula.
One span collapsed.
Very Nice!
A Twitter feed suggests a span did collapse.
https://twitter.com/DAlperovitch/status/1680762931674226690
Another Twitter user reports:
It sounds like justice is returning to the Crimea.
The orcs can’t blame Ukraine for this, it would be admitting that the most heavily defended places on Earth, was still successfully destroyed by the mighty Ukraine.