British intelligence assesses impact of Crimean bridge attack for Putin

This was reported by the UK Ministry of Defense on Twitter.

UK intelligence reminds that on the morning of October 8, an explosion damaged the Crimean bridge, which connects the occupied peninsula and Russia's Krasnodar region. 

Two of the four carriageways have collapsed in several places over a stretch of about 250 m. It is almost certain that some vehicles will be able to travel on the other two carriageways, but capacity will be severely reduced.

UK intelligence said the extent of damage to the level crossing was unknown, but any serious disruption to its capacity would likely have a significant impact on Russia's already impaired ability to maintain its forces in southern Ukraine.

"This incident is likely to affect Russian President Vladimir Putin closely. It happened the day after his 70th birthday, he personally opened the bridge, and the construction contractor was his childhood friend Arkady Rotenberg. In recent months, Putin's former bodyguard and now the commander of the Russian National Guard Viktor Zolotov publicly assured the safety of the bridge," the UK intelligence agency concluded.