The Crimean bridge is partially destroyed. After a massive explosion, the bridge important to Putin caught fire. This has a major impact on Russia’s military operations. The Ukrainian secret service is said to be responsible for the incident. All voices and developments on the Ukraine war in the ticker.
Sunday, October 9th, 11:30 a.m.: According to British experts, the explosion on the bridge between Russia and the annexed Black Sea peninsula of Crimea should have significantly reduced the capacity of the road connection. Two of the four lanes collapsed over a length of 250 meters. The other two lanes would probably be used again, according to the British Ministry of Defense’s daily intelligence update on the Ukraine war on Sunday.
It is unclear how badly the adjacent rail link is damaged, “but any major disruption to its capacity will most likely have a significant impact on Russia’s already strained ability to resupply its forces in southern Ukraine,” the statement said.
According to British experts, the incident may have affected Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin personally. “It came hours after his 70th birthday, he had personally sponsored and opened the bridge and the contractor in charge was his childhood friend Arkady Rotenberg,” the statement said.
9:56 p.m .: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has left open the involvement of his subordinates in the explosion on the Crimean bridge. In Ukraine it was mostly sunny and warm, “unfortunately cloudy in Crimea, although warm there too,” he said in his daily video speech, alluding to the morning detonation on the bridge. He did not go into detail about the incident.
However, he then once again called on the Russians to surrender and flee. This is her best option to stay alive, according to Zelenskyj. There will be a future without occupiers in Ukraine. “All over our territory, especially in Crimea,” he said. The Crimean bridge, which is strategically and symbolically important for Russia, was shaken by a heavy explosion early on Saturday morning. Videos show major destruction. The exact background is still unclear.
According to Zelenskyy, the advance of Ukrainian troops in the east and south continues. However, he gave no information about new conquests. Instead, the head of state highlighted the Donetsk region, a section of the front where the Russians had recently reported successes. The 44-year-old admitted that there was very hard fighting in the Bachmut area. He praised the “resilience” of the brigade holding positions there. The small town of Bakhmut is considered an important pillar in the defensive bulwark around the Sloviansk-Kramatorsk area in the Donetsk region, which is controlled by Kyiv.
7:55 p.m .: Russian President Vladimir Putin has instructed the FSB secret service by decree to tighten control over the Crimean bridge, which was damaged by an explosion. “The FSB will be given powers to organize and coordinate protective measures for the transport route across the Kerch Strait, for the power bridge of the Russian Federation to the Crimean peninsula and the gas pipeline from Krasnodar Krai to Crimea,” the decree said. It is the Kremlin’s first action in the wake of the morning’s explosion, which is believed to have been caused by an attack.
So far, according to Duma deputy Alexander Chinstein, responsibility for the safety of the bridge has been divided into three parts. The Ministry of Defense was responsible for surveillance of the airspace, and the National Guard “Rosgwardija” for maritime surveillance. However, the automobile and railway route itself was controlled by the Ministry of Transport.
The Crimean bridge, which is strategically and symbolically important for Russia, was shaken by a heavy explosion early on Saturday morning. Videos show major damage. The exact background is still unclear. According to Russian sources, a truck exploded. As a result, according to Russian investigators, seven tank wagons with diesel caught fire further away. In addition, parts of the bridge highway fell into the sea. At least three people are said to have been killed.
Before the Kremlin decree was published, the head of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, who ruled with a heavy hand and had been criticized for the most serious crimes against humanity, had offered to guard the Crimean bridge with his units in future. Officially, these units are subordinate to the National Guard “Rosgwardija”.
5:59 p.m .: After the explosion and the serious fire on the strategically important bridge to the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow, the prominent Russian foreign politician Leonid Slutsky spoke of a “terrorist attack”. If the Ukrainian trail in the attack is confirmed, “the consequences will be inevitable,” said Slutsky on Saturday in the Crimean capital Simferopol. “The answer should be harsh, but not necessarily frontal,” he said. Moscow has repeatedly threatened to target command centers in Kyiv if attacks continue.
According to Slutsky, numerous statements by prominent politicians in Ukraine suggest that Kyiv organized the attack. Ukrainian media had reported that the SBU secret service in Kyiv was behind the special operation. “This can be an act of state terrorism, for which, as we can see, there is applause in European capitals,” Slutski said.
The 54-year-old, who heads the Foreign Affairs Committee in the State Duma, said that Russia has experience in fighting terrorists. “Terrorist attacks” like those on the bridge must be prevented in the future. At the same time he announced that the bridge would be repaired. The structure is considered a lifeline for supplying the Crimea – and the soldiers stationed there. “Crimea is provided with everything important, the steadfastness of Crimeans is to be envied,” said Slutsky.
The Crimean bridge, which is strategically and symbolically important for Russia, was shaken by a heavy explosion early on Saturday morning. Videos show major destruction. The exact background is still unclear. According to Russian sources, a truck exploded. As a result, according to Russian investigators, seven tank wagons with diesel caught fire further away. In addition, parts of the bridge highway fell into the sea. At least three people are said to have been killed.
5:29 p.m .: Several hours after the heavy explosion, Russia partially released the Crimean Bridge for trains and cars. After a thorough search, cars and buses are allowed to cross the bridge that connects the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 and Russia, Crimea’s chief of administration Sergey Aksyonov wrote on Telegram on Saturday afternoon. The 19-kilometer-long structure will remain closed to trucks for the time being.
The Russian Ministry of Transport had previously stated that two undamaged lanes could continue to be used. The train operator “Grand Service Express” also announced that the first two trains had left the Crimean cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol in the direction of Moscow and St. Petersburg.
4:10 p.m .: The Crimean Bridge has been reopened to traffic after the heavy explosion this morning. This is reported by the AFP news agency with reference to the Russian authorities.
3:48 p.m .: After the massive explosion on the Crimean bridge, according to Russian information, more than 50,000 tourists could be stranded on the Black Sea peninsula annexed by Moscow. The Association of Russian Travel Providers announced on Saturday that more precise figures on the people who could no longer easily leave their vacation spots were still being determined. Rail and car traffic to the Russian mainland was initially stopped completely.
A Russian railway operator later said that the first trains should start running again that evening over the partially destroyed 19-kilometer bridge that connects Crimea and Russia. According to official information, two lanes that were not damaged should also be released for cars again in the course of the afternoon. In addition, evacuations are to be organized via ferries. An emergency hotline had been set up, it said.
The Crimean bridge, which is strategically and symbolically important for Russia, had been shaken by a heavy explosion a few hours earlier, and videos show major destruction. The exact background is still unclear. According to Russian sources, a truck exploded. However, Ukrainian media, citing security circles in Kyiv, reported that the SBU secret service was behind the special operation.
Russia illegally annexed Crimea in 2014. Despite the large-scale war that started at the end of February this year, the peninsula continues to be a very popular destination for Russian tourists.
3:30 p.m.: The Ukrainian military encountered unexpected difficulties in retaking their territory. As the “Handelsblatt” reports, citing Ukrainian military personnel, the connection via the Starlink satellite system no longer worked in some areas of the front line. Through this system, the armed forces receive information about where Russian units are located. Starklink belongs to the space company SpaceX, which is controlled by Elon Musk.
3:23 p.m.: The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the Chief of the Air Force, General Sergey Surovikin, will be the commander of all Russian troops in Ukraine. This is reported by the AP news agency. This declaration was the first official appointment of a single commander for all Russian forces in Ukraine.
2:51 p.m .: Mikhailo Podolyak, chief adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has denied that the Ukrainian secret service was responsible for the explosion on the Crimean bridge. Instead, he blamed Russia. Both the Russian secret service FSB and private military service providers are currently trying to eliminate the top level of the defense ministry and the government, he wrote on Twitter. But before there is ever a change in Russian leadership, the government is more likely to smash the FSB, arguing that it failed to warn of the impending explosion.
“The Ministry of Defense can now hold the FSB responsible for the future loss of the south,” Podolyak wrote, referring to the Russian-held areas in southern Ukraine. “Isn’t it obvious who caused the explosion? The truck came from Russia.”
A Ukrainian newspaper had previously reported that the Ukrainian secret service was behind the explosion and set off a blast. So far it is unclear who is really behind it.
1:23 p.m .: According to Russian information, at least three people died in the heavy explosion on the bridge between Russia and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea annexed by Moscow. The national investigative committee said on Saturday that the bodies had been pulled out of the water. It is preliminary information, it said. People are said to have been sitting in vehicles when a truck coming from the mainland exploded in the morning on the Crimean Bridge car route.
The explosion set fire to seven fuel-filled tank wagons of a freight train. As a result, parts of the road collapsed, it said. The agency did not explain how a single truck could have caused damage of such magnitude.
Ukraine, which has been fighting a war of aggression by Russia since the end of February, has repeatedly announced that it will take back Crimea.
10:52 a.m .: According to the Ukrainian online newspaper “Ukrainska Pravda”, the Ukrainian domestic secret service (SBU) is responsible for the explosion on the Crimean bridge. The blast was carried out as part of a special operation. “Ukrainska Pravda” referred to law enforcement agencies. The SBU indirectly confirmed the report.
“The bridge burns beautifully in the sunrise. A nightingale meets the SBU in Crimea,” commented the SBU, picking up a poem by Ukrainian poet Taras Shevshenko.
Saturday, October 8th, 8:51 a.m .: According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been informed of the serious fire on the bridge to the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea. He instructed a commission to investigate the causes of the fire, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Saturday, according to the Interfax agency. According to the first information, fuel wagons of a freight train caught fire on the railway part of the Crimean bridge system, which also has a motorway. According to authorities, no one was injured. The bridge was closed to traffic.
According to the information, a section of the highway was also badly damaged. Images circulating in Russian and Ukrainian media showed flames erupting from a train and burning the entire track bed. A ferry connection should be set up, as the government in the Crimean capital Simferopol announced.
After the start of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine at the end of February, there were several explosions in Crimea, causing severe damage, including at military bases. There have also been repeated threats in the capital Kyiv that the bridge between the peninsula and the Russian mainland, which Putin opened in 2018, will be fired upon. Most recently, in the Kerch region, which borders directly on the bridge in Crimea, there have been repeated incidents with drones exploding.
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