2022 Crimean Bridge explosion

2022 Crimean Bridge
2022 Crimean Bridge
Location	Kerch Bridge,
Date	8 October 2022 ; 6:08 a.m. (UTC+3:00)
Attack type	Bombing
Deaths	5
Perpetrator	Security Service of Ukraine

On 8 October 2022, at 6:07 am, an explosion and fire happened on the Kerch Bridge. It happened on the road part of the bridge. Two road spans of the bridge collapsed into the water. The railway part of the bridge was also damaged by fire. Four people were killed and the Investigative Committee of Russia started an investigation.^[1] The bridge reopened in February 2023.

The bridge was built in 2018 to supply Russian troops in occupied Crimea during the Russo-Ukrainian War. The explosion happened the day after the 70th birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin and one week after the announcement of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia.^[2]

Another explosion on 17 July 2023 collapsed a span of the road bridge and temporarily closed the rail bridge. The bridge reopened again in October.

Ukrainian officials and the military have said they wanted to destroy the bridge earlier.^[3]

↑ Adams, Paul (2022-10-09). "Crimean bridge: Who – or what – caused the explosion?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2022-10-10. I've seen plenty of large vehicle-borne IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in my time," a former British army explosives expert told me. "This does not look like one." [...] A more plausible explanation, he said, is a massive explosion below the bridge - probably delivered using some kind of clandestine maritime drone. [...] "Bridges are generally designed to resist downwards loads on the deck and a certain amount of side loading from the wind," he said. "They are not generally engineered to resist upward loads. I think this fact was exploited in the Ukrainian attack.
↑ "Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea-Russia bridge blast". ABC News. 10 October 2022. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022. Mr Bastrykin said Ukrainian special services and citizens of Russia and other countries took part in the act. [...] "We have already established the route of the truck" that Russian authorities have said set off a bomb and explosion on the bridge, he said. [...] Mr Bastrykin said the truck had been to Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar (a region in southern Russia) and other places.
↑ Взрыв на Крымском мосту. Что о нем говорят в России и Украине Первые реакции [The explosion on the Crimean bridge. What they say about it in Russia and Ukraine. First reactions]. Медуза [Meduza] (in Russian). 2022-10-08. Archived from the original on 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2022-10-08.

[bbc20221009-1] Adams, Paul (2022-10-09). "Crimean bridge: Who – or what – caused the explosion?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2022-10-10. Retrieved 2022-10-10. I've seen plenty of large vehicle-borne IEDs [improvised explosive devices] in my time," a former British army explosives expert told me. "This does not look like one." [...] A more plausible explanation, he said, is a massive explosion below the bridge - probably delivered using some kind of clandestine maritime drone. [...] "Bridges are generally designed to resist downwards loads on the deck and a certain amount of side loading from the wind," he said. "They are not generally engineered to resist upward loads. I think this fact was exploited in the Ukrainian attack.

[ABC_Aussie_20221010-2] "Russian President Vladimir Putin accuses Ukraine of Crimea-Russia bridge blast". ABC News. 10 October 2022. Archived from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 10 October 2022. Mr Bastrykin said Ukrainian special services and citizens of Russia and other countries took part in the act. [...] "We have already established the route of the truck" that Russian authorities have said set off a bomb and explosion on the bridge, he said. [...] Mr Bastrykin said the truck had been to Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar (a region in southern Russia) and other places.

[Meduza_IntlResponse-3] Взрыв на Крымском мосту. Что о нем говорят в России и Украине Первые реакции [The explosion on the Crimean bridge. What they say about it in Russia and Ukraine. First reactions]. Медуза [Meduza] (in Russian). 2022-10-08. Archived from the original on 2022-10-08. Retrieved 2022-10-08.

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