Crimea night attack: Russia reports 20 drones, activates air defense

The state-run RIA Novosti reported the traffic blocking.

"Vehicle traffic on the Crimean bridge is temporarily blocked," the post reads.

The occupying Russian forces did not provide any reasons for this decision.

One of the Telegram channel wrote about explosions in Crimea:

"Crimean residents report a strong explosion in the Kirovsky district."

It also confirmed that traffic across the bridge has been suspended. Later, the publication added that a drone attack was taking place and that air defense was operating.

At 3:17 a.m., RIA Novosti reported that traffic on the Crimean bridge was resumed.

In the morning, a representative of the Crimean oссupation authorities, Oleg Kryuchkov, confirmed the drone attacks in different parts of the peninsula.

The Russian Defense Ministry said that 20 drones attacked Crimea. According to preliminary data from the occupying Russian forces, 14 of them were destroyed by air defense, and another 6 were suppressed by electronic warfare. There were no casualties.

Explosion on the Crimean bridge: what happened

On July 17, in the morning, there were explosions on the Crimean Bridge. The occupation authorities said it was an "emergency event" caused by the Ukrainian military. They found damage to the road and reported two deaths.

Ukraine's Security Service says all details of the explosion on the Crimean Bridge will be disclosed after Ukraine wins the war against Russia.

Due to the night's incident, Vladimir Putin convened an emergency meeting, where he promised a "Russian response" to the explosion on the Crimean Bridge.

Russian media claimed that the Ukrainian Defense Forces allegedly shelled the "land route" from Russia to Crimea over 20 times during the month.

Instead, Maxar Technologies published satellite images of the Crimean Bridge after the nighttime explosion on July 17.

Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba told the UN that Russia was using the Crimean Bridge to continue the war in Ukraine, and that it was built illegally.

On July 21, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the Crimean Bridge a target of the Ukrainian military and said it should be completely dismantled. 

On July 26, the SBU confirmed for the first time its involvement in the 2022 attack on the Crimean Bridge.