Crimean bridge attack halts Russian logistics in south of Ukraine – ISW

Analysts of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) report this. 

Following the explosions on the bridge connecting Russia and the temporarily occupied Ukrainian peninsula, Russian authorities accused Ukraine's special services of carrying out an attack using unmanned surface vehicles on the morning of July 17.

Video footage shows that one part of the road on the bridge across the Kerch Strait collapsed, while the other part sustained damage but remained intact.

The Russian Ministry of Transport stated that the strikes did not harm the railway bridge or the pillars of the road bridge. Railway traffic over the bridge was restored a few hours after the attack.

The Russian occupying authorities redirected heavy civilian traffic from Crimea, which they have unlawfully occupied, to Russian territory through the occupied southern regions of Ukraine. Russian sources reported significant traffic jams in the Dzhankoy region of Crimea and the intervention-controlled territory in the Kherson region, specifically in the direction of Melitopol.

The report suggests that the influx of Russian tourists leaving occupied Crimea likely contributed to increased traffic and potentially hindered Russian logistics from Crimea to their rear areas in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.

Occupation authorities advised civilians to consider alternative evacuation routes to alleviate urgent traffic issues.

Andriy Yusov, the spokesperson for the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, declined to comment on the country's involvement in the incident.

However, as Ukrainian officials and analysts from the Institute for the Study of War have previously stated, the bridge across the Kerch Strait and military installations in occupied Crimea are considered legitimate military targets for the Defense Forces of Ukraine in their defense against a full-scale invasion by the Russian Federation and the Kremlin's attempts to seize our nation.

The Crimean bridge attack

On July 17, in the morning, there were explosions on the Crimean bridge. Russian occupation authorities declared it an "emergency event" and blamed the Ukrainian military for the attack. Some parts of the road surface were damaged, and two deaths were reported.

The Security Service of Ukraine stated that all the details about the explosion on the Crimean bridge will be revealed after Ukraine wins the war against Russia.

Because of this event, Vladimir Putin called for an urgent meeting and promised that Russia would respond to the explosion on the Crimean bridge.

Russian media claims that the Defense Forces of Ukraine supposedly targeted the "land route" from Russia to Crimea more than 20 times in a month.

In contrast, Maxar Technologies released satellite images of the Crimean bridge after the night explosion on July 17.