Kerch Bridge damaged in 'special operation' – SBU
Ukraine’s State Security Service (SBU) has announced the conduct of another special operation to disable the bridge across the Kerch Strait, illegally built by the Russian occupiers.
"The operation lasted several months. SBU agents mined the supports of this illegal facility. And today, without any casualties among the civilian population, at 4:44 in the morning the first explosive device was activated! The underwater supports of the supports were severely damaged at the bottom level - 1,100 kg of explosives in the TNT equivalent contributed to this. In fact, the bridge is in an emergency state," the special service's website reported on Tuesday.
SBU Head Vasyl Malyuk personally supervised the operation and coordinated its planning.
"God loves the Trinity, and the SBU always brings what is conceived to the end and never repeats itself. Previously, we twice hit the Crimean Bridge in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition under water. There is no place for any illegal Russian facilities on the territory of our state. Therefore, the Crimean Bridge is an absolutely legitimate target, especially considering that the enemy used it as a logistical artery to supply its troops. Crimea is Ukraine, and any manifestations of occupation will receive our tough response," he said.
The bridge across the Kerch Strait connects the temporarily occupied Ukrainian Crimean peninsula with the territory of the Russian Federation - an illegal structure that the occupiers actively used to reinforce their army as part of the full-scale war launched by Russia on February 24.
On October 8, a truck was blown up on the road part of the Kerch Bridge, as a result of which the fuel tanks of a railway train passing nearby caught fire. Two spans of the roadway of the branch from Krasnodar to Kerch collapsed, and the railway part of the bridge was also damaged. Later, a law enforcement source told the agency that the bridge was a special operation of the Security Service of Ukraine.
On December 5, 2022, traffic on the roadway was restored, but only for passenger cars. Repairs to the railway track continued until May 5, 2023.
However, on July 17, 2023, the bridge was again attacked by two unmanned surface vehicles, as a result of which one of its spans was destroyed. Repairs continued until September 5.