Ukraine: Russia is playing a very perilous game with its precious Crimean Bridge, condemned to blow up

“In Crimea, Ukraine beats Russia”, headlined The Economist a few days ago. The article explained how kyiv now had many Russian strategic targets within its reach after the sending of long-range ATACMS by the United States, and how the peninsula, occupied by Russia since 2014, made unlivable by the projectiles of Kiev had become for Ukraine the symbol of hopes of final victory.

As recently as June 10, the Ukrainian high command announced the massive destruction of key Russian systems. An S-400 anti-aircraft system, two S-300s and four radars were reportedly hit by a massive strike from 10 ATACMS missiles. Enough, on the peninsula, to make Moscow a little more blind and defenseless in the face of new attacks from the air.

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The worst, however, is undoubtedly yet to come.

Barges and ships to protect the Crimean Bridge

In the same article in The Economist, and as Business Insider noted, a spokesperson for the Ukrainian armies, Dmitry Pletenchuk, stated outright that the Crimean Bridge was “sentenced”.

The pride of Vladimir Putin, inaugurated in 2018, linking the occupied peninsula to continental Russia by spanning the Kerch Strait, the building has already been seriously damaged by a famous Ukrainian attack in October 2022, as reported in particular by Le Monde or korii.

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When it is not used to ferry Russian tourists who have come spree across this explosive riviera on the Black Sea, the Kerch Bridge is vital to the Russian war effort in Ukraine, and particularly in Crimea. It allows the transport of water, fuel, troops, goods: it is a crucial logistical thread, without which the Kremlin would have great difficulty holding the peninsula, and supplying the southern front of the war.

So, in addition to smoke screens launched at the slightest alert or multiple anti-aircraft systems, Russia is doing what is necessary to protect it. As we reported in August 2023, it sank some of its own ships near the Kerch Bridge, in order to create a barrier against possible Ukrainian kamikaze nautical drones.

These were not a priori considered sufficient in the face of the threat since British military intelligence, relayed by Newsweek, explained on June 8 that Moscow was also using barges to densify the physical defenses of the bridge, and perhaps install nets intended to cut off possible threats from the sea.

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Explosives and oil on the Crimean bridge

Because if it is a vital link between the continent and the occupied peninsula, the Crimean Bridge is not the only one. For a long time, Russia was also able to count on connections made by boats, also capable of transporting large quantities of men or equipment across the Kerch Strait.

But woes: energized by the Western weapons which are beginning to flow in, particularly since the lifting of the blockade of American aid, kyiv has of course also targeted these ferries and hit the mark, again thanks to ATACMS missiles and as well as the reported The Kyiv Independent on May 30.

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Notably, the attack constituted a “significant disruption” of Russian logistics, according to British intelligence, relayed by Newsweek, which explained that the ferries had been rendered almost “non-operational” by the Ukrainian attack.

The proof ? It appears that Russia is once again relying on its valuable Kerch Bridge to transport fuel and explosive materials between the continent and the peninsula, as reported by the Ukrainian site Miliratnyi.

The latter is based on a video dated June 8, published by civilians and showing a train apparently full of fuel, undoubtedly largely intended to supply Russian troops and equipment stationed in occupied Crimea.

A bridge which remains a strategic target for kyiv but on which materials as sensitive as gasoline or ammunition and missiles can once again pass, and after a ban of several months for obvious security reasons. This could really make Ukrainian spies and the intelligence services of the very efficient Kyrylo Budanov salivate.

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For several weeks, Ukraine has already been testing, with decoys and its own missiles, the defenses installed by the Russians around the precious bridge. If these could be overwhelmed during one of these transports of explosive products, the blow could be fatal for the building.

The attack could be done with a pack of ATACMS missiles, with the Ukrainian Long Neptune, a Franco-British Storm Shadow / SCALP-EG or a hypothetical German Taurus (a “bunker buster”) still on standby. It could also, exactly like the first time, be the result of sabotage and a cleverly calculated clandestine operation: after all, the Ukrainians know how to blow up trains like bridges.