Crimea Bridge partially reopens after attack

The attack killed two civilians and damaged a section of a key bridge linking mainland Russia with the Crimean peninsula.

Early in the morning of July 18 local time, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin announced on his Telegram channel that vehicles were taking turns using the rightmost lane between Taman and Kerch.

Mr Khusnullin said Rosavtodor road engineering teams and other emergency crews responded quickly to the attack on July 17 and urgently repaired damaged bridge spans.

The explosion did not damage the bridge’s piers, but part of the surface on the left side of the bridge collapsed and repairs could take weeks. The remaining lane was thoroughly inspected before being ordered to reopen, Deputy Prime Minister Khusnullin said.

According to Russian authorities, two Ukrainian drones launched the attack from the sea. As a result, a family car traveling along the targeted road crashed. The couple in the car were killed, while their 14-year-old daughter was seriously injured.

President Vladimir Putin declared this another terrorist attack by Kiev, and affirmed that he would respond quickly. It is known that the Russian Defense Ministry has drawn up the necessary plans to retaliate.

Mr. Putin also noted that the Crimean bridge has long been used to transport military supplies, so the recent attack was completely criminal and senseless.

The Russian leader also called on officials to step up security measures around the Crimean bridge, which has been attacked for the second time. “I am waiting for concrete proposals to improve the security of this strategically important transport bridge,” Putin added.

According to Ukrainian media, the attack was a joint operation of the Navy and the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU).

The government in Kiev and many Western allies have backed the demolition of the bridge built in 2018 to connect Crimea to mainland Russia.

Earlier this month, the Ukrainian government admitted it was behind a truck bombing in October 2022 that killed three civilians and damaged parts of a road and railway. Moscow responded by launching a barrage of missiles at key Ukrainian infrastructure. The bridge was fully repaired on March 5.

Also on July 17, Sergei Romashkin, vice president of the Association of Russian Tour Operators (ATOR), predicted that Crimea would lose up to 100,000 tourists per week due to the attack on the Crimean Bridge. Most of them would be people who planned to travel to Crimea by car, while tourists who planned to travel to Crimea by rail would not be in a hurry to abandon their vacation plans.

According to Mr. Romashkin, the daily flow of people to Crimea is 25-30,000 people, of which about 20%, or 5,000 people, arrive by train, 20-25,000 by car. Therefore, as long as the bridge is not in operation, these tourists cannot come to the Crimean peninsula. According to Mr. Romashkin, after the attack on the Crimean bridge, part of the tourists took the bypass - around the Sea of ​​Azov: through Mariupol, Melitopol and Chongar.

According to News