His symbolic value is as big as strategic. The Kerch Bridge, built after Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, is the Kremlin’s most important infrastructure in its occupied territories. It unites, with its 19 kilometers of length suspended between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, the Ukrainian peninsula with Russia. Is the only terrestrial link between both territories. An umbilical cord that is a source of pride for the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, and that, since the beginning of the current war, has become one of the main supply routes for the Russian army at the front.
For this reason, when last October part of this civil work blew up after exploding a freight truck, the shock wave affected not only Putin’s pride, but also the spirit of the forces deployed on the battlefield they were severely beaten. Now, almost nine months after what is assumed to be an attack by Ukrainian troops (who have yet to confess responsibility), the bridge, which was fully reopened in February, has suffered a new bang. This time, coming from inside Russia.
With miles of coastline, Crimea was, since the occupation, one of the main touristic destinations of Russian citizens. And apparently, despite the fact that the region has been the target of multiple attacks in recent months and that the Kremlin army has been forced to strengthen security in the area to respond to a possible ukrainian onslaughtmany Russians still choose the paradisiacal Crimean beaches to spend the summer.
That is at least the version offered by the Russian authorities, who have spent months trying to convey a message of calm and thus guarantee a prosperous summer season. All despite the fact that the data, such as that of the hotel reservation portal Ostrovok.ru. which suggests that only 1% of summer 2023 bookings of Russians have been in Crimea compared to 19% in 2021, they are not very optimistic.
However, according to an analysis of the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the large influx of Russian tourists to Crimea, who cannot access by plane due to the closure of the airspace, caused serious traffic jams on the Kerch bridge at the beginning of July. In this way, one of the most important land lines of communication between Moscow and the troops deployed in southern Ukraine, in the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, where the current Kiev counteroffensive is concentrated, was blocked.
[Si no disuadimos a Rusia, la guerra volverá a Europa. Por Nicolás de Pedro]
The congestion would have become so problematic that last july 4thRussian Transport Minister Vitaly Saveliev, met with putin to ask his permission to increase the number of ferries crossing the Kerch Strait, according to the Russian state news agency Tass. However, these measures seem not to have been enough and the Kremlin has been forced to involve the army.
This Wednesday, the commander of the Russian Navy, Maxim Rykhlov, announced through a telegram video that had unfolded two large military ships for to function as ferries, will transport the vehicles stuck on the bridge and decongest the highway. Specifically, it is about two amphibious assault ships –the Olenegorsky Gornyak and the Kaliningrad– with capacity for up to 40 cars.
From tourist destination to military objective
Reclaiming Crimea is one of Ukraine’s great ambitions. Also one of the most difficult goals to achieve. “The war began in Crimea and will end in Crimea,” Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky promised last August before launch their brutal counteroffensive summer in the north and south of the country that allowed the Ukrainian army to recapture thousands of square kilometers.
The Chongar Bridge alongside several other Bridges in Southeastern Ukraine which link the Crimean Peninsula to the Ukrainian-Mainland were reportedly Damaged last night by Missile Attacks, with the Chongar Bridge specifically appearing to suffer a Strike from a Ukrainian “Storm… pic.twitter.com/ig60yXnLqn
—OSINTdefender (@sentdefender) June 22, 2023
Since then, the attacks on the peninsula and the entry routes into the territory have multiplied. Without going any further, in June, Ukrainian troops bombarded British long-range missiles Storm Shadow the chongar bridgewhich connects Crimea with the city of Melitopol (in the Zaporizhia oblast), a strategic enclave for the land corridor that Russia opened in the south in the first days of the war For this reason, Moscow has been trying to shield the peninsula for months now digging trenches and building fortifications along the border.
