“Intellectual Crisis” of Moscow
Kiev: Russia sinks ferries to protect Crimean Bridge
08/23/2023, 5:15 am
The Kerch Bridge is an important supply route for the Russian army and a prestige object of President Putin. Ukraine has successfully shelled the structure more than once. In order to avoid further attacks, the Russian army apparently wants to block the waterways.
After several successful attacks by Ukrainian forces, Russia is apparently trying to protect the Kerch Bridge with a new strategy: the Ukrainian military intelligence service HUR informsthat the Russian army intends to sink several ferries in the Kerch Strait to block waterway access to the bridge. A ferry has already been sunk, reports the HUR. Russia wants to sink at least six in total.
Further barriers are also to be erected between the sunken ferries. The measure shows how feverishly the enemy is seeking protection and also “the intellectual crisis within the military and political leadership of terrorist Russia,” writes the Ukrainian military intelligence service on its website.
The Kerch Bridge connects the Crimean peninsula, annexed by Russia, with the southern Russian region of Krasnodar. The building is a prestige object of Russia’s President Vladimir Putin and also a strategically important logistics route for the Russian military, which constantly supplies its troops in southern Ukraine from Crimea. The bridge is therefore an important military target for Ukraine, which it repeatedly comes under fire.
Attacks with boats and trucks
For the last successful attack on the Crimean bridge, Ukraine used drone boats in July, which according to Ukrainian information were each loaded with 850 kilograms of explosives. The detonation on a bridge pillar destroyed part of the roadway. According to Russian information, the repair work should last at least until November.
A truck carrying 21 tons of TNT, according to Ukraine, exploded on the bridge last October. In both cases, the Ukrainian domestic intelligence agency SBU has claimed responsibility for the attacks. In an interview with the “New Voice of Ukraine” SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk announced further attacks on the Kerch Bridge last weekend: “I promise you, this will be a surprise, especially for our enemies.”