Kersh Strait Bridge
The Kersh Strait Bridge is a bridge complex linking the Crimean peninsula with Russia's Krasnodar Krai on the eastern shore of the Black Sea.[1] Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine, in 2014, and completed the $3.6 billion bridge in 2018.[2] Russian President Vladimir Putin personally opened the bridge.[3]
The bridge complex is actually a pair of parallel bridges, a railroad bridge was built adjacent to a four lane road bridge. It is 12 miles long.
After Russia launched a multifront invasion of Ukraine, in late February, 2022, commentators have debated on the pros and cons of Ukraine attacking the bridge.[1][4][5]
At 2am on October 8, 2022, a vehicle-born bomb blew out two segments of two lanes of the roadbridge, and set several tanker cars afire on the adjacent rail bridge. The explosion came one day after Putin's birthday.[6]
At least three people were killed in the explosion.
Russian officials attributed the bombing to Ukraine, and the New York Times quoted an anonymous source within the Ukraine government who confirmed the attack did come from Ukraine.[7]
The bridge complex had been partially restored to operational status by later in the day.[7][8]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Ukrainian Threat Over Crimean Bridge Unacceptable - Peskov". Telesur English. 2022-04-21. Archived from the original on 2022-07-12. https://web.archive.org/web/20220712214119/https://www.telesurenglish.net/news/Ukrainian-Threat-Over-Crimean-Bridge-Unacceptable---Peskov-20220421-0021.html. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ Neil MacFarquhar (2022-10-09). "Putin Opens Bridge to Crimea, Cementing Russia’s Hold on Neighbor". New York Times (Moscow, Russia): p. A8. Archived from the original on 2022-10-02. https://web.archive.org/web/20221002050955/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/15/world/europe/putin-russia-crimea-bridge.html. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ Marc Santora (2022-10-08). "Crimea’s Kerch Strait Bridge holds deep strategic, and symbolic, value". New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/world/europe/crimea-kerch-strait-bridge-explosion-explainer.html?searchResultPosition=7. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ "Why doesn't Ukraine try to destroy the Crimean Bridge?". YouTube. 2022-05-20. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gKhygU5xdM0. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ William Spaniel (September 2022). "Ten Reasons Why Ukraine Hasn't Destroyed the Crimean Bridge". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2022-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20221008163823/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE5afkEqG08. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ Megan Specia, Maria Varenikova, Oleksandra Mykolyshyn (2022-10-08). "‘Happy birthday, Mr. President’: Ukrainians celebrate the bridge blast with memes.". New York Times. Archived from the original on 2022-10-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20221009043544/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/world/europe/ukrainians-crimea-bridge-memes.html. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 "Blast on sole bridge linking Crimea with Russia deals blow to Moscow’s war effort". New York Times (Kyiv). 2022-10-08. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/08/world/russia-ukraine-war-news#a-fireball-erupts-on-a-bridge-linking-crimea-to-russia. Retrieved 2022-10-10.
- ↑ "Russia-Ukraine War: Explosion on 12-Mile Crimea Bridge Kills 3". New York Times. 2022-10-08. https://www.nytimes.com/live/2022/10/08/world/russia-ukraine-war-news. Retrieved 2022-10-10. "By Saturday evening, the railroad section of the bridge had undergone repairs and a train with 15 cars had successfully crossed the span, according to a Russian state news agency, Tass. Car traffic had also resumed on the undamaged side of the bridge, the head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov, said in a post on Telegram."
