Ukraine strike decimates only bridge connecting Russia and Crimea, cutting crucial supply line

Ukraine has carried out a devastating strike on the only bridge connecting Russia and the occupied province of Crimea, severing the vital supply line for President Vladimir Putin’s forces, Ukraine’s security service announced.

Dramatic video shows the piers of the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, exploding on Tuesday morning after Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) agents mined it following a monthslong operation.

Ukrainian special forces used more than 2,400 pounds of explosives, which “severely damaged” the underwater pillars supporting the road and rail crossing, the SBU wrote on Telegram alongside the video.

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This is the third attack on the Kerch Bridge by Ukrainian forces since the start of the full-scale war in February 2022.

Russian officials did not immediately respond to Ukraine’s claims about the attack, but all traffic on the bridge was suspended on Tuesday morning, the Russian operator for the crossing announced on its official Telegram account.

Traffic was later suspended again mid-afternoon before resuming shortly before 6 p.m. local time, according to the operator. 

The reported strike comes just two days after the SBU blindsided Russia with a devastating series of drone strikes on its airbases, reportedly wiping out 34% of the country’s strategic nuclear bombers and causing an estimated $7 billion of damage.

Vasyl Malyuk, the head of the SBU, who was responsible for Sunday’s attacks, also oversaw Tuesday’s attack on the Kerch Bridge, the Ukrainian Security Services said.

“We previously struck the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition, this time underwater,” Malyuk said in a statement shared on Telegram.

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The bridge, which serves both a practical and a symbolic role for Russia, is a “completely legitimate target,” since it is used by Russia “as a logistical artery to supply its troops” fighting in mainland Ukraine, Malyuk added.

Built after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, the bridge was officially opened by Putin in 2018 at a cost of around $3.7 billion.

Connecting Crimea with mainland Russia, the bridge embodies Putin’s insistence that the peninsula is part of his country.