Russia stops using Crimean Bridge to supply weapons - media

The Independent writes, citing Maxar satellite images and the findings of analysts from the Molfar intelligence agency, according to the Information Resistance group.

Analysis of satellite images shows that there is almost no traffic on the Kerch Bridge. Therefore, according to analysts, it can no longer be an effective military target for the Ukrainian Armed Forces.

Satellite imagery shows that almost no military freight trains have been running on the bridge's rail line for three months. During that period, on February 29, only one Russian freight train was seen on the bridge, carrying about 55 railroad cars of fuel. 

It is noted that Russia's use of the bridge has significantly decreased after Ukraine attacked it on July 17, 2023, with the help of unmanned naval boats and blew up part of the roadway and railway line.

According to Molfar CEO Artem Starosek, the decision of the Russian authorities to stop using the Kerch bridge to resupply Russian forces coincided with a sharp increase in freight traffic through Taman in the Rostov region of Russia. "Kyiv should now focus its attention on Melitopol, Berdiansk and Mariupol, where Russia is installing new rail lines to connect these occupied Ukrainian regions with Crimea and mainland Russia," he said.

Ukrainian military and political observer of the Information Resistance group Oleksandr Kovalenko also commented on this situation: 

“Given that the transportation of equipment, ammunition and other Russian logistics equipment along the Kerch bridge railway line has been and will continue to be. Trains with this component regularly arrive in Kerch and local monitoring channels, such as Krymskyi Veter, ARK and others, constantly record and report on this process,” Kovalenko wrote on Telegram.

He added that Crimea is a transit, logistical hub, which a single road through Mariupol and Berdiansk cannot replace. And no new logistical branch line will be able to supply fully, in 24/7 - non-stop mode, the southern grouping of Russian troops, numbering almost 200 thousand bodies.

Andriy Ryzhenko, a reserve captain in the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, asserts that destroying the Crimean Bridge would require dozens of tons of explosives.

"I believe Storm Shadow and ATACMS missiles could disable the Crimean Bridge, depending on where they strike," he said during an interview on Espreso TV.