Saturday for the second time in a few days it was again closed to traffic the bridge connecting Russia to Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula that Russia has militarily occupied since 2014. It is currently unclear why the bridge was closed or if it was damaged: Russian authorities in Crimea suspended traffic after an alleged attack on an ammunition depot in Crimea for which the Ukrainian military has been blamed. There are currently no photos or other evidence of the attack, which has not been confirmed by independent sources. According to the Russian authorities there were no deaths or damage of any kind.
The depot is about 160 kilometers from the bridge and it is unclear how the alleged Ukrainian attack could be related to the closure. After an initial announcement about the interruption of traffic, traffic was partially reopened and then interrupted again.
The bridge is about 18 kilometers long and crosses the Kerch Strait. It is a particularly important infrastructure both from a symbolic point of view, because for Russia it represents control over Crimea, and from a military and strategic point of view, because it is a fundamental passageway for soldiers and military assets going to Crimea from Russia, and from there to the front in southeast Ukraine. Five days ago there had already been explosions on the bridge which had forced the Russian authorities to temporarily close it. In that case, too, responsibility was attributed to the Ukrainian military. About two weeks ago, the Ukrainian government had claimed responsibility for the first time for the explosion that on 8 October 2022 had caused the partial collapse of the bridge, causing five deaths and an interruption of traffic for several weeks.
