After the illegal annexation of Crimea, Putin has a bridge built that connects Russia with the peninsula. After several explosions in Crimea, Ukraine is now demanding the dismantling of the 19-kilometer structure. At the same time, Kyiv indirectly threatens to use military means.
Ukraine has called for the “dismantling” of Russia’s most strategically important bridge to Crimea across the Kerch Strait. The bridge is an “illegal object” and must be dismantled – “it doesn’t matter how: voluntarily or not,” said adviser to the Ukrainian president, Mykhailo Podoliak, on Telegram. He indirectly threatened a military attack on the bridge, which Russian President Vladimir Putin personally inaugurated in 2018.
Podoliak’s call came after several explosions in the Russian-held Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow is using as a logistical base for its February 24 invasion of Ukraine. An ammunition dump at a military base in the north of the peninsula exploded on Tuesday. Moscow spoke of an “act of sabotage”, but without naming those directly responsible.
The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, spoke of a “masterpiece of the Ukrainian armed forces”. In addition to the ammunition depot, civilian infrastructure was also damaged, including a high-voltage power line, a power plant, a railway line and several houses.
A week earlier, explosions had already occurred at the Russian military airfield at Saki in western Crimea, killing one and injuring several. An estimated eight Russian aircraft were destroyed, as well as a significant amount of ammunition. No one claimed responsibility for the incident, but high-ranking officials in Kyiv and the military indicated Ukraine’s involvement.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had previously reiterated that Kyiv would “never give up” on its intention to retake Crimea from Russia. The London Institute for War Studies believes the blasts in Crimea are part of Ukraine’s counter-offensive in the south of the country to cut off Russian troops from their supply lines and push them back across the Dnipro River. Ukraine has also destroyed several bridges in the south of the country in recent weeks.
The Kerch Strait Bridge is the main road and rail link between mainland Russia and Crimea. The 19-kilometer-long structure was inaugurated in May 2018 by Kremlin chief Putin, who was the first to drive across the new bridge in a truck at the head of a convoy of vehicles. Four years earlier, Russia had annexed the Ukrainian peninsula.
