On Oct. 8, a fire broke out on the Crimean bridge, the only link between Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimean Peninsula and mainland Russia. The Russians use the rail link in particular to transfer reinforcements and supplies for their invasion force in Ukraine.
Read also: Panic grips Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Crimea after explosion damages Kerch road and rail bridge
The bridge is partially destroyed, traffic has been blocked by the accident,” the UK intelligence assessment read. “In Russia, they said at first that a ‘tanker with fuel’ was on fire, although later they said that ‘a truck was blown up.’”
Two of the four lanes of the bridge collapsed in several places for a distance of about 250 meters. Most likely, traffic will be restored on the other two lanes, but “capacity will be seriously reduced,” UK intelligence reckons.
The extent of damage to the railroad tracks is unknown. However, “any serious disruption of its throughput capacity is highly likely to seriously affect Russia’s already ‘strained ability’ to sustain its forces in southern Ukraine.”
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During the full-scale invasion of Russia, the railway section of the Crimean Bridge has played a key role in transporting heavy equipment to the southern front, the UK Defense Ministry said.
“This incident will likely affect (Russian dictator) Vladimir Putin very much. It happened just a few hours after his 70th birthday, he personally sponsored and opened the bridge, and the project’s contractor was his childhood friend Arkady Rotenberg,” the report says.
Recently, Viktor Zolotov, former bodyguard of the Russian dictator and currently the commander of the Russian National Guard, publicly guaranteed the safety of the bridge.
Read also: Russia will search for a Ukrainian link, play down importance of Crimean bridge attack, says expert
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin ordered to create a government commission in regard to the “emergency situation” on the occupied peninsula. In the evening of Oct. 8, the occupiers said that they had allegedly restored traffic on the Crimean Bridge, but restrictions remain.
According to NV sources in law enforcement, the blowing up of the Crimean Bridge was a special operation by Ukraine’s SBU security service. The SSU said they will only comment on their role or the role of any state body of Ukraine in the event after Ukraine’s final victory.
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the President’s Office, suggested that the explosion on the bridge could have been part of an internal struggle between Russian security forces.
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