Recent attack on Kerch Bridge likely to have continuing ramifications on Russian logistics – ISW
The relevant statement was made by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
Russian authorities accused Ukrainian special services of conducting an unmanned surface vehicle strike against the Kerch Strait Bridge on the morning of July 17.
Russia’s ministry of transport claimed that the strikes did not damage the rail bridge or supports of the road bridge, and rail traffic across the Kerch Strait Bridge resumed several hours after the strike.
Russian occupation authorities rerouted heavy civilian traffic from occupied Crimea to Russia through temporarily occupied southern Ukraine, and Russian sources reported extensive traffic jams in Crimea’s Dzhankoi district and the occupied Kherson region towards Melitopol.
According to the ISW, Russian tourists fleeing the temporarily occupied Crimea likely exacerbated traffic and likely impeded Russian logistics from Crimea to rear areas in the Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions.
Russian occupation authorities asked civilians to consider alternate evacuation routes to “mitigate the immediate traffic issues”.
Andrii Yusov, the representative of the Main Intelligence Directorate at the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, declined to comment on Ukraine’s involvement in the incident.
The Kerch Strait Bridge and military areas in occupied Crimea are legitimate military targets for Ukrainian forces in their defense against the full-scale Russian invasion and occupation of Ukraine, as ISW and Ukrainian officials have previously reported.
A reminder that, around 04:00 a.m., July 17, 2023, one span of the Kerch Strait Bridge collapsed, and the other was damaged. Prior to that, an explosion took place.
