Twin explosions have damaged the Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia, killing two people and closing the main conduit for Russian road traffic to the annexed peninsula.
The heavily guarded road and rail link is among the Kremlin’s most important and high-prestige infrastructure projects, and the only overland link that goes directly from Russia to occupied Crimea.
The apparent attack is the second time that the bridge has been targeted since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine, and follows a decree by Vladimir Putin to enhance security to protect the structure from potential attacks.
Video published by the pro-Kremlin Crimea 24 channel, taken from the adjacent railway bridge, showed a section of the road bridge had sheared off and was sloping towards the Black Sea.
There were reports of explosions at about 3am local time, and cars heading for the bridge were stopped early on Monday morning after the head of the Russian-controlled administration in Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said there was an “emergency situation” on the 145th pillar of the bridge.
Russia’s national anti-terrorist committee later said the attack had been carried out by two maritime drones packed with explosives sent by Ukraine. Ukraine has not taken responsibility for the attack on the bridge, which is a much-hated symbol of Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesperson for Ukrainian military intelligence, said: “The peninsula is used by the Russians as a large logistical hub for moving forces and assets deep into the territory of Ukraine. Of course, any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers.”
Vladimir Putin said on Monday that Russia was considering its response to the attack, which he described as a “brutal” and “pointless” act as he said the bridge “has not been used for military transportation for a long time”.
Russia’s transport ministry said the road had been damaged but not the pillars, downplaying the possibility of extensive repairs being needed.
Rail service on the parallel bridge has resumed. Thousands of Russians on holiday in the annexed peninsula have been told not to attempt to cross the bridge and are being rerouted through Ukrainian territory that has been occupied by Russia, leading to long queues at checkpoints.
A woman and man from Russia’s Belgorod region taking their 14-year-old daughter to Crimea were killed in the explosion. The daughter was receiving treatment in hospital but her injuries were not life-threatening, Russian officials said.
Later on Monday, Russia said it would suspend its participation in a deal to export Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea. The deal, brokered by the UN and Turkey last year, was meant to alleviate a food crisis prompted by a Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports that had frozen millions of tonnes of grain exports around the world, much of it to developing countries.
The UK had accused Russia of sabotaging the deal prior to the attack, significantly reducing grain exports from Ukraine in recent months. The deal was set to expire on Monday.
Maria Zakharova, a spokesperson for Russia’s foreign ministry, blamed the damage to the bridge on a Ukrainian attack, calling Ukraine “a terrorist state structure”.
Asked about the explosion on Monday morning, a spokesperson for Ukraine’s military intelligence directorate quoted a previous statement by the directorate’s head, Kyrylo Budanov, saying: “The bridge is a superfluous structure.”
Ukrainian and international media outlets cited unnamed sources suggesting the Ukrainian domestic security service and the navy were responsible for the attack.
If the damage was caused by an attack, it would be the second time the bridge has been sabotaged. It follows a coup attempt by the Wagner mercenary group last month amid reports that senior field commanders are being removed from their posts in Ukraine.
The bridge was built on Putin’s orders and inaugurated by him in 2018. It is a key link for bringing troops, equipment and supplies to Moscow’s invasion force in Ukraine.
Moscow has in the past boasted of layers of protection ranging from the latest weapons systems to military dolphins. In October 2022, the day after Putin’s 70th birthday, a massive explosion destroyed a section of the Ukraine-bound road and engulfed the rail link in flames.
Kyiv did not initially claim that attack, but earlier this month the deputy defence minister Hanna Maliar marked 500 days since Russia’s invasion by acknowledging in a Telegram post that Ukraine was behind the truck bombing “to break Russian logistics”.
After the bridge was repaired, Putin drove a Mercedes across it to Crimea, underlining how important he considers the project.
The 19km (12-mile) bridge is the only direct land link between Russia and Crimea; ferries are slower and, when winter weather hits the Black Sea, can be unreliable.
The road and railway bridges run parallel, with a wide suspension span in the middle to allow ships to pass through. It has been a supply route for food, fuel and other supplies for Russian troops invading southern Ukraine, and for the naval base at Sevastopol port, the base of Moscow’s Black Sea fleet.
When the bridge is closed, Russia can still send supplies to Crimea through occupied Ukraine, along the coastal highway through ruined Mariupol, beside the Sea of Azov, but this is a longer route and presents a less challenging target for Ukrainian forces than the heavily guarded bridge.
It does not appear, however, that the railway bridge, the main conduit for Russian military supplies to Crimea, has been significantly damaged.
“The Kerch Strait Bridge is a logistically significant object,” George Barros, an analyst with the US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War, wrote on Twitter after the first reports of explosions on the bridge. “Russia will only have one ground supply line – the coastal highway on the Sea of Azov – to sustain (or evacuate) its tens of thousands of troops in occupied Kherson and Crimea if Ukraine manages to degrade/destroy the bridge.”
The bridge has been the main route used by Russian civilians heading to Crimea for holidays, apparently undeterred by a string of Ukrainian attacks on Russian military targets there including an airbase and naval vessels.
Crimea has always been popular with Russian tourists. Visitor numbers rose after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022 made it harder for them to travel to western countries, and Moscow’s propaganda machine doubled down on the historically inaccurate claim that Crimea had been Russian for centuries.
