- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
- cross-posted to:
- [email protected]
A drone attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea has led to civilian evacuations and disrupted transport, Russian authorities have said.
Sergei Aksyonov, the Russian-installed governor of occupied Crimea, said Ukraine was behind the attack, without providing evidence.
Mr Aksyonov said local residents living within five kilometres of the blast were being evacuated.
Rail services across the Kerch bridge have also reportedly been halted.
Earlier on Saturday, Russian authorities stopped traffic on the bridge, but then swiftly reopened it to cars.
A later update from the Moscow-installed government said road traffic was again halted until further notice.
Mr Aksyonov said infrastructure facilities in the Krasnogvardeysky district in Crimea were the target.
“According to preliminary data, there were no damages or casualties,” Mr Aksyonov wrote on a Telegram post.
The BBC has not been able to independently verify the attack.
The Kerch bridge, often referred to as the Crimea bridge, was opened in 2018 and it enables road and rail access between Russia and Crimea - Ukrainian territory annexed by Russia in 2014.
The bridge has become a symbol of Russian occupation and is also an important re-supply route for Russian forces in southern Ukraine.
On Monday, a blast on the bridge killed two people and damaged the road but the railway line, which runs parallel to it, was not damaged.
The Kremlin blamed Kyiv for Monday’s attack and said Ukraine had carried out a “terrorist” act. Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to retaliate and accused Ukraine of launching a “senseless” and “cruel” attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said the Crimea bridge is a legitimate target.
Speaking on Friday he said the bridge was “the route used to feed the war with ammunition and this is being done on a daily basis”, adding that Kyiv sees it as “an enemy facility”.
“So, understandably, this is a target for us,” Mr Zelensky said, in a video address to the Aspen security conference in the US.
Monday’s alleged attack was the second major incident on the Kerch bridge in the past year.
In October 2022, the bridge was partially closed following a huge explosion. It was fully reopened in February.
Once again this targets the civilian traffic of the bridge and not the rail line that would actually affect the military supply.
Removed by mod
I can’t see any other reason for wasting himars missiles like this. There’s no strategic benefit to targeting the road especially given that it gets repaired in days, it’s literally just an act of terror against civilian traffic. My assumption is that this is one of the small groups acting outside of central command. It can’t be a central decision because it’s just so obvious that it doesn’t advance any strategic objectives.
0% chance the road is repaired in days, and the road is used for military logistics.
Just updating my previous comment to point out that it was only 57 days on the “significant repairs” one I mentioned. Details here: https://www.newcivilengineer.com/latest/crimean-bridge-repaired-and-reopened-six-months-ahead-of-schedule-26-01-2023/
Doubt it will be longer for this one, this attack has done less damage.
It was literally running the next day when this last happened, and in a limited capacity before that one. The worst event was when the removed a span of the bridge for a week for more significant repairs. Either way the vast majority of supply and transport is done over the railbridge, not the main bridge. The main bridge can not carry tracked vehicles nor is it efficient to transport military supplies that you don’t want to go ““missing”” (wink wink) in trucks. By using trains you keep large shipments all in one piece.
I genuinely don’t understand why people here continually try ignore facts.