(Moscow) The Crimean Bridge, which connects the peninsula annexed to Russia, was partly destroyed by a powerful explosion on Saturday. An attack which hitherto seemed unthinkable against a strategic artery and a symbol of the Russian occupation, but for which Kyiv rejects responsibility.
Updated yesterday at 11:43 p.m.
Dramatic videos of the explosion captured by surveillance cameras circulated on social networks on Saturday.
In one of them, we see two vehicles, including a truck, driving on the Crimean bridge before being suddenly engulfed in flames after a violent explosion.
PHOTO AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Black smoke rises from tank cars that caught fire after the explosion on the Crimean Bridge on Saturday. Bottom left, the part of the bridge that collapsed.
Three people died in the explosion that occurred at dawn, according to Moscow, which evokes a truck bomb attack. Russia has set up a commission to investigate the explosion.
A large section of the roadway collapsed in the Kerch Strait, but traffic resumed in the afternoon, Crimean authorities said. Rail traffic was restored in the evening, with the departure of two trains for Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
A painful setback for Russia, a week after the announcement of the annexation of four Ukrainian territories.
PHOTO COMMITTEE OF INVESTIGATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Russian investigators were dispatched to the scene.
A symbol
More than a military failure, this attack is a crushing humiliation for Vladimir Putin. And a very personal affront, believes Professor Dominique Arel, holder of the Chair in Ukrainian Studies at the University of Ottawa.
With its 18 km, the Crimean Bridge is the longest bridge in Europe. A symbol of prestige, it was inaugurated with great fanfare by the Russian President in 2018, four years after the annexation of Crimea. It was said to be indestructible, protected by an entire Russian defense arsenal, including “military dolphins”.
More importantly: the Crimean Bridge is the only link connecting the peninsula to Russia, with which it shares no land border.
For Vladimir Putin, “it is the symbol of the unification of Crimea with Russia”, explains Dominique Arel.
For now, Moscow has refrained from directly accusing Ukraine. The head of the Crimean parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, denounced a coup by “Ukrainian vandals”.
“Crimea. The bridge […]. Everything that is illegal must be destroyed, everything that has been stolen must be returned to Ukraine,” tweeted Mikhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
PHOTO REUTERS
The Crimean Bridge, inaugurated in 2018, has road and rail routes.
Kyiv did not claim responsibility for the attack, although it was pleased with the damage. The Ukrainian government instead attributes the explosion to an internal struggle between Russian special services and the Russian military.
“It should be noted that the truck that exploded, by all indications, entered the bridge from the Russian side. It is therefore in Russia that we must look for the answers,” Podoliak said in a statement.
According to a senior Ukrainian official speaking on condition of anonymity, the Ukrainian intelligence services did indeed orchestrate the attack, reported on Saturday the New York Times.
Hours after the explosion, the country’s post office unveiled a commemorative stamp featuring the burning bridge which is expected to be printed soon.
PHOTO VLADYSLAV MUSIIENKO, REUTERS
A woman poses in front of a work depicting the burning Crimean Bridge in Kyiv.
Strategic artery
From a military point of view, the Crimean bridge is a strategic target for Ukraine, underlines Dominique Arel.
“Military supplies pass through the bridge, which is first and foremost a railway bridge,” explains the professor. If it were to be seriously damaged, Crimea would find itself isolated, he adds.
The Russian army, in difficulty on the Kherson front in southern Ukraine, has meanwhile assured that the supply of its troops was not threatened. Kyiv has hit several bridges in the Kherson region in recent months to disrupt supplies to the Russian army.
“Now that it’s happened, anything can happen. The Ukrainians have already sent the message that they are capable of shaking the bridge”, believes Dominique Arel.
The bridge reopened in the evening
The Crimean Bridge reopened to road and rail traffic after being partially destroyed on Saturday.
“Rail traffic on the Crimean bridge has been fully restored,” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khousnulline told the press, according to the Ria Novosti agency, without specifying the time.
“All scheduled trains will pass in full,” he added. He clarified on his Telegram account that this recovery concerned both “passenger and freight trains”.
“We have the technical capabilities for that,” he assured.
A railway line operator had announced a few hours earlier that two trains had already left for Moscow and Saint Petersburg.
The Crimean authorities had announced in the afternoon that traffic had resumed for cars and buses on the bridge’s only road lane that remained intact. This was confirmed by Mr. Khousnoulline, specifying that the second route would be operational again “in the near future” and that the conclusions of the observations carried out on Saturday on the damaged parts would be known on Sunday.
Ferries will take over, especially for the crossing of heavy goods vehicles. “We do not foresee a shortage,” noted the Deputy Prime Minister.
Russian news agency Tass earlier reported that train traffic had fully resumed for passengers and goods, albeit with delays.
France Media Agency
With Agence France-Presse, the New York Times and the Guardian