Early morning explosions on Monday hit the only bridge connecting the occupied Crimean peninsula to the Russian mainland, damaging a key symbol of President Vladimir V. Putin’s claim to sovereignty over Ukrainian territory and briefly disrupting a key supply route for Russian forces.
Kerch Strait bridge exploded for second time in 10 months. Although these caused less damage than the explosive-laden truck that blew up last October, they exposed the vulnerability of the bridge — and other Russian supply lines away from the front — as Ukraine mounts a tough counteroffensive to retake the land.
Russia on Monday accused Ukraine of using maritime drones to attack a bridge that is a strategic link for Russian forces fighting in southern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials celebrated the attack, but neither claimed nor denied responsibility for the blasts.
Hours after the attack, Moscow announced it was withdrawing from the Black Sea Grain Agreement, which had allowed Ukraine to export its grain by sea despite Moscow’s naval blockade. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry S. Peskov said the bridge attack was unrelated to Russia’s decision to suspend its participation in the deal, which has helped stabilize global food prices.
Train traffic resumed on the bridge on Monday morning. But according to video reviewed by The New York Times, damage to the car lanes, which appeared to leave part of the road tilted, threatened to restrict Russian logistical operations.
If the bridge is destroyed or severely damaged, a single major land route from Russia would be left along Ukraine’s southern coast to support tens of thousands of troops fighting to hold territory Moscow seized in the first weeks of its offensive.
Mr Putin, in a meeting with transport officials broadcast on state TV, condemned the explosions as “another terrorist attack carried out by the Kyiv regime”. He said the Defense Ministry was preparing Russia’s response and that the FSB, Russia’s main security service, would investigate.
“This is the second terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge,” Mr. Putin said, adding, “I am waiting for concrete proposals to improve the security of this strategically important transportation facility.”
Part of one bridge was destroyed, and another moved more than 30 inches, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said. But the main pillars of support remain intact, which Mr Putin called “good news”.
Mr Khusnullin said limited vehicular traffic could resume as soon as Tuesday. He said the least damaged lanes would be restored by mid-September and the remaining lanes by November.
Pro-war Russian military bloggers and commentators described the attack, which officials said killed two people and wounded a third, as evidence of yet another failure of Russian military command. Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer who runs a prominent blog, said Ukraine would attack again and again until the bridge was cut.
The attack comes as Ukrainian forces are engaged in a now five-week-old counter-offensive aimed at driving Russian forces from areas of southern and eastern Ukraine. Russian forces are dug in behind fields littered with land mines, so the Ukrainian military is forced to move cautiously and progress is slow.
According to analysts, isolating Russian forces in Crimea is an essential part of the Ukrainian counteroffensive strategy. Ukrainian ground forces are trying to drive a wedge through a natural land bridge connecting Russia to the peninsula through southern Ukraine and have repeatedly targeted the bridge, which Mr Putin ordered built after Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014.
When the bridge opened in 2018, Mr Putin hailed it as a “remarkable” achievement that strengthened Crimea. With its opening, “we all became closer to each other,” he said.
The explosion that hit the bridge last October was large enough to rupture fuel tanks on a passing train, setting it on fire and pulling part of the road off its hinges and into the sea. Months later Ukrainian officials acknowledged no role, but called the 12-mile bridge a legitimate military target because of its key logistical role in the Kremlin’s war effort.
“Any illegal structures used to deliver Russian tools of mass destruction are necessarily short-lived, regardless of the causes of destruction,” said Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. He said on Twitter On Monday.
After the October attack, Moscow stepped up countermeasures to protect the structure, deploying a ship With an array of radar reflectors To protect the bridge.
Russia’s agency, the National Counter-Terrorism Committee, said in a statement that Ukraine attacked the bridge with two maritime drones on Monday, which could not be independently verified. Video and photographs reviewed by The Times showed the most significant damage along the bridge leading to Russia. One photo also showed a damaged car on a bridge.
While taking down a bridge in wartime has historically been difficult, airborne and waterborne drones may provide new ways to target weak points.
“Precision-guided weapons, where you can hit a specific part of the bridge, make it less difficult to knock it out,” said Samuel J. Cox, a retired rear admiral and director of the Naval History and Heritage Command in Washington. “It allows you to get to a certain point on the bridge where you can do more damage.”
But bridge designs have improved over the years, meaning that a bridge that needs to be repaired rather than replaced retains its structural integrity.
“I think the Russians will be able to fix this quickly,” Admiral Cox said.
Milana Majeva, Ivan Nechepurenko, James Glanz And Axel Boda Contribution report.
