Ukraine’s security service has claimed responsibility for an underwater explosion that damaged Russia’s key bridge linking to Crimea.According to a statement released on Tuesday, Ukraine’s SBU said it used 1,100 kilograms (2,420 pounds) of explosives to target the road and rail bridge early in the morning. The blast reportedly struck the underwater pillars of the 19-kilometre Crimea Bridge over the Kerch Strait, a vital military and civilian link between Russia and the peninsula it annexed from Ukraine in 2014.“Previously, we hit the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition underwater,” said the SBU, adding that the operation had been in planning for several months.Footage released by the SBU showed an explosion near one of the bridge’s support columns. Reuters confirmed the location using visual elements of the bridge matched against satellite and file images, but could not independently verify when the video was recorded.The official Russian outlet responsible for providing status updates on the bridge said that its operation was suspended between 4 am. and 7 am local time. No official reason was given for the three-hour closure, although it confirmed that the bridge had reopened and was functioning normally.The Crimea Bridge has served as a critical supply line for Russian troops since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022. Russian forces initially crossed into Crimea using the bridge before advancing into the Kherson and Zaporizhzhia regions of southern Ukraine.The bridge was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s flagship projects, consisting of parallel road and rail sections supported by concrete stilts and iconic steel arches at the navigational span between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.Although the SBU claimed damage to the structure, Russian military bloggers suggested the attempt may have failed and speculated that a sea drone might have been used in the operation.This incident follows another Ukrainian operation on Sunday, when drones targeted Russian long-range bomber planes at airfields across Russia. That attack was reportedly codenamed “Spider’s Web.”
