Building a bridge between mainland Russia and the Crimean peninsula across the Kerch Strait was a pharaonic project dreamed of by the last Tsar, and plans were even drawn up in Stalin's time. Only the current president of Russia, Vladimir Putin, managed it. He ordered its construction after the annexation of Crimea, in 2014, and in 2018 he inaugurated it by crossing it while driving a truck. The new work became a proud symbol of Russian power. But yesterday, Saturday, it was touched, when an explosion and a fire destroyed part of the infrastructure and caused three deaths.
The explosion occurred around 6 a.m. local time. A truck exploded, causing a fire and the chain explosion of up to seven fuel tankers carrying a train to Crimea.
The Moscow authorities refrained from directly accusing Ukraine. But from Crimea, one of its leaders, Vladimir Konstantinov, who chairs the State Council, pointed to Kyiv. "Ukrainian hooligans have come to the Crimean bridge with blood on their hands," he wrote on Telegram.
In the Ukrainian capital they celebrated the damage as their own victory, but avoided clarifying whether they had had anything to do with it.
“This morning on the Crimean bridge. The fuel tanks are on fire. Part of the road was also destroyed! Everything will be Ukraine!” said a statement from the Ukrainian air force accompanied by images of the destroyed bridge.
Mijaílo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski, launched a cryptic message with which it cannot be affirmed that Ukraine has something to do with it, but neither does the opposite. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine.”
There were no jokes either. The Ukrainian post office even announced that it is preparing to launch a commemorative stamp, the work of various artists. And the head of the Security Council of Ukraine, Oleksi Danilov, published a video of the burning bridge along with one of the actress Marilyn Monroe singing "Happy birthday, Mr. President", since the explosion occurred a day after Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70th birthday.
Knowing its symbolism, since Russia sent its troops to Ukraine in February, Kyiv has repeatedly alluded to its desire to destroy the bridge. Moscow has always warned that this would be a red line that would not go unanswered.
If Ukraine is behind the blast it would mean that Ukrainian forces can damage crucial Russian infrastructure far from the front line. That could increase the anger in a part of the Russian elite, which has already criticized the defeats suffered by its army in the last month.
It could also increase the feeling among Russians that the conflict is getting into the house, especially after the partial military mobilization decreed by Putin three weeks ago to recruit 300,000 reservists.
Russian deputy Oleg Morózov, quoted by the Ría Nóvosti agency, called for an "adequate" response. Otherwise, he said, "this type of terrorist attacks will multiply."
The Crimean Bridge includes four vehicle lanes (two in each direction) and two railway tracks that allow Russian trains to reach Simferopol, the capital of the Republic of Crimea. With a length of 19 kilometers and an outlay of 3,100 million euros, it was built by the Stroigazmontazh Group, owned by billionaire Arkadi Rotenberg, a personal friend of Putin.
The construction of a bridge like this was first proposed under the reign of Tsar Nicholas II, but the beginning of the First World War put an end to the project. It was also unsuccessfully attempted in the 1930s under Joseph Stalin. It was even tried by the Nazi troops who occupied Crimea in World War II.
According to investigators sent by Moscow, the attack left three dead: the driver of the truck that exploded and two people, a man and a woman who were in a vehicle that was driving next to the explosion and whose bodies were rescued from the water.
The Kerch Bridge, better known as the "Crimean Bridge", provides the only road and rail connection between the annexed peninsula and mainland Russia. That is why it is essential to bring military equipment and weapons to the Russian army fighting in southern Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said yesterday that supplies are guaranteed by existing land and sea routes.
