It is a key structure in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. A fire broke out this Saturday morning on the vast bridge that connects Crimea and Russian territory. According to the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee, it was caused by a truck explosion and is now extinct. The point on what we know of these facts.
An explosion that caused the fire
“Today at 6:07 a.m. on the road part of the Crimean bridge, (…) the explosion of a truck took place, which caused the ignition of seven fuel tanks of a train heading towards the peninsula of Crimea,” says the report of the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee. The images, relayed on social networks, are impressive.
The Kremlin spokesman said that Vladimir Putin had ordered the formation of a government commission to establish the facts, and Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khousnoullin visited the scene.
An investigation has been opened and an initial report indicates at least three deaths. The bodies of a man and a woman were taken out of the water, without their identity being revealed. The investigations established that the owner of the truck which exploded was a resident of the Russian region of Krasnodar, without it being known whether he was on board at the time of the explosion.
The Russian Ministry of Transport for its part “began to assess the damage and the volume of work required to restore the Crimean Bridge”. According to the national insurance union, the damage would be estimated between 200 and 500 million rubles, or between 3 and 8 million euros.
Traffic reopened to cars
A time interrupted, road traffic was reopened in the afternoon. It “is now open for cars and buses, with full inspection procedures,” Sergei Aksyonov, the leader of Crimea, said on Telegram.
Faced with the concerns of the population, the local authorities had assured that the region had sufficient reserves of fuel and foodstuffs, to avoid a rush to the service stations and supermarkets. A ferry was notably able to leave at the end of the morning and operate crossings of the Kerch Strait.
A crucial bridge for the Russians
This bridge, inaugurated in 2018 and built at great expense on the orders of Vladimir Putin, is used in particular for the transport of Russian military equipment. “There were almost every week armored vehicles crossing on trains, the supply passing by this railway”, explains Xavier Tytelman, aeronautical adviser and editor-in-chief of the magazine Air & Cosmos.
“The road bridge was important for the civilians, but the railway bridge was crucial for the military effort. Tanks cannot pass elsewhere. In logistical terms, the supply of heavy equipment will be extremely slowed down, or even made impossible,” continues the specialist. Since then, an operator has indicated that traffic will gradually be able to resume.
Grand Service Express, which provides connections between Crimea and Russia, said two trains would leave the peninsula in the early evening for Moscow and St. Petersburg. They “will go through the Crimean Bridge”, assured the company on Telegram.
If the number of trips were to drop sharply, Russian soldiers could find themselves stuck at the front without reinforcements: “They will have to fight only with what they already have. Tanks will quickly run out of gas, and they will run out of ammunition by the time equipment is brought to them again. This fire could thus “Completely destabilize the southern front” of the fighting in Ukraine, says Xavier Tytelman.
Accusations against Ukraine, but a “Russian track” mentioned by kyiv
The Speaker of the Parliament of the Republic of Crimea accused Ukraine of being behind the explosion: “Ukrainian vandals managed to reach the Crimean Bridge with their bloody hands. (…) Death and destruction are the only things they know how to do, ”he said on Telegram, while ensuring that the damage caused would be quickly repaired.
In the afternoon, kyiv finally denied its involvement, citing a “Russian track” as the cause of the explosion. “It should be noted that the truck that exploded, by all indications, entered the bridge from the Russian side. It is therefore in Russia that we must look for the answers, ”said Mykhaïlo Podoliak, the adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, in a comment sent by the presidency.
Earlier in the day, Mykhailo Podolyak, had tweeted: “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything that is illegal must be destroyed, everything that has been stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything that is occupied by Russia must be cleared of it. »
A reaction that did not please Moscow, since the spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs had affirmed that this type of message was “proof of the terrorist nature” of Ukraine. Russia threatened kyiv with retaliation if Ukrainian forces were to attack the bridge or Crimea.
The country has had a series of military setbacks since the beginning of September, its troops being forced to retreat both in the northeast and in the south of the country, in particular the region of Kherson, bordering Crimea, and of which Putin claims the annexation.