While a car bomb started a huge fire on the Crimean Bridge, key infrastructure and symbol of the annexation of the eponymous Ukrainian peninsula, the geopolitician Cyrille Bret estimates on franceinfo that even if the authorities minimize the consequences of the attack, the chains civilian and military supply centers in Crimea will be affected.
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A fire broke out on the morning of Saturday, October 8, on the Crimean Bridge, in Russia, after the explosion of a car bomb according to the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee, which announced that it was opening a criminal investigation into this explosion which seriously damaged the important bridge connecting the Crimea annexed by Moscow to the mainland.
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“This bridge is an obvious military target“, for Ukrainians reacts on franceinfo Cyrille Bret, geopolitician and researcher at the Jacques Delors Institute.
For the Ukrainian authorities, this 18 kilometer bridge “it is the symbol of the illegal occupation and annexation of Crimea. It is a clear symbol of Russia’s desire to annex part of Ukrainian territory to itself”, he adds. Traffic is currently “limited” on the Crimean bridge, and according to Russian agencies, the road and railway tracks are damaged.
“It is an essential infrastructure for Crimea to integrate economically into the Russian Federation: without this bridge, Crimea would be a kind of island off the coast of the Federation.”
Cyrille Bretat franceinfo
“This explosion marks a bit like the breaking of the umbilical cord that the Russian authorities wanted to establish between Crimea and the territory proper of the Russian Federation”, he completes.
Even if the authorities minimize the consequences of this fire in their press releases, according to Cyrille Bret the chains “civilian and military supplies in Crimea” will be affected. “This bridge is used to transport everything that Crimea lacks: construction materials, food, Crimea is a somewhat underdeveloped territory from an economic point of view. It is obviously also used to transport military equipment”, notes the specialist.
Cyrille Bret also recalls the symbol of this bridge, wanted directly by Vladimir Putin. “It’s three billion dollars and a grand inauguration in 2018 by the president himself, he points out. We remember that the Kerch Strait is a true symbol of Russia’s desire to annex a whole part of Ukrainian territory, not only Crimea but also the northern province of Mariupol.