By Kevin Zhang
A huge explosion rocked the Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea on Saturday, destroying a portion of the bridge. The bridge is hated symbol of the Russian war in Ukraine, one of Putin’s prestige projects and a vital logistical link for the Russian military.
A section of the bridge fell into the Kerch strait after the explosion, and a fire engulfed a train that was on a parallel track on the bridge, producing a thick column of black smoke. The parallel road towards the Russian side still appeared relatively undamaged and passable in footage following the blast.
The attack came the day after Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday, and is a major blow to the Russian military and its supply chains for the war.
Moscow had previously claimed the bridge was protected by a wide range of advanced defenses, including military dolphins and state-of-the-art weapons systems, and has also threatened to retaliate if the bridge was targeted.
Ukraine has not directly claimed responsibility for hitting the bridge, but senior Ukrainian officials publicly celebrated the attack.
The explosion could be heard from miles away, and occurred at around 6am on Saturday. Russia set up a committee to investigate the incident, and within hours had said that three people, presumably the passengers of a nearby car, were killed. A truck bomb was blamed for the blast. Additionally, the driver of the truck was identified as a resident of Kuban, a southern Russian region.
Two bodies of dead have been found in the water and are being identified. Footage showing the moment of the explosion showed a truck and a car at the center of the blast, though it was unclear which one was responsible.
The bridge, built in 2018 by orders of Putin, is a key link in the Russian war in Ukraine, ferrying equipment, supplies, and troops into southern Ukraine.
