crimea bridge destroyed attack ukraine russia

The Kerch Bridge linking Crimea to Russia was partially destroyed by a truck bomb explosion at dawn on 8 October. Since 2014, Russia has annexed Crimea, removing it from Ukraine, with a referendum deemed illegal by the UN. Today, kyiv wants to take back the Black Sea peninsula.

A truck bomb exploded on the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea, causing a large fire and the collapse of part of the structure. This was reported by Tass citing Russia’s National Counterterrorism Committee. 7 fuel tanks of a freight train caught fire due to the explosion. “A truck from the Taman Peninsula (i.e. mainland Russia, editor’s note) blew up part of the Crimean Bridge (also called the Kerch Bridge, editor’s note) on the road at 6:07 a.m. today, causing the “the fire of seven fuel tanks of a train bound for Crimea” explain the Russian authorities. “Two spans of the road bridge have partially collapsed”.The Committee specifies that the navigable arch of the viaduct is not damaged.

Photo @Reuters

Vehicle traffic is suspended. Opened in 2018, the Crimean Bridge spans 19 kilometers and is the longest in Europe. Local authorities have announced that a ferry service through the Kerch Strait will be in place by today.

Crimea in Ukraine’s sights

Vladimir Putin ordered the formation of a government commission to investigate the facts. In a tweet, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, implicitly asserts kyiv’s responsibility. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Anything illegal must be destroyed,” writes Podolyak. “Everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything belonging to the Russian occupation must be expelled.”

Photo Twitter @KyivPost

And if Crimea is now at the center of the confrontation between kyiv and Moscow, the attacks against Ukraine from the Russian side do not stop. The war shows no signs of abating in intensity, indeed fears of a possible explosion of nuclear conflict are growing. Over the past few hours, new shelling has damaged the only still functional line of communication with the electrical system of the Dniprovska nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhia. This was reported on Telegram by the mayor of Energodar, Dmytro Orlov, adding that the operating autonomy of the power plant is “10 days”.

“Europe on the brink of nuclear war”

Volodymyr Zelensky has issued a new alert. “We are all on the verge of a nuclear catastrophe” he declared And this “due to the capture of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant by Russian troops”. For Zelensky, “Russia brought the war to our land, to the Ukrainian part of Europe. And it is only thanks to the fact that the Ukrainian people stopped the invasion of Russia that the latter still cannot wage the same war in other parts of Europe. Especially in the Baltic countries, Poland and Moldova”.

The map of Crimea with the Kerch Strait. Photo corso.unica.it