(Dan Tri) – A Ukrainian navy commander announced that Kiev will destroy the vital bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.
A firefighting helicopter poured water onto a burning train on the Crimea bridge during the explosion on October 8, 2022 (Photo: AFP).
In an interview on February 5, Commander of the Ukrainian Navy Oleksii Neizhpapa declared that `the time of the Crimea bridge is over`.
Mr. Neizhpapa warned that Ukraine could destroy the Crimea bridge `this year`.
`I don’t think we have to wait long. Certainly this year,` the Ukrainian Navy Commander declared.
Mr. Neizhpapa did not specify how Ukraine will implement the above plan.
The Crimea Bridge was built between 2016 and 2018 and is the only railway and road link connecting the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.
However, Moscow opened a large land corridor to Crimea after Russia announced the annexation of four regions in Ukraine in the fall of 2022.
After the outbreak of conflict between Russia and Ukraine, many Ukrainian officials and commanders, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, threatened to destroy the Crimean bridge, claiming that this bridge was very important for the Russian military.
The Crimean Bridge, 18km long, has been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian naval missiles and drones, but Russia claims most attacks have been repelled.
In October 2022, a truck loaded with explosives exploded while moving along the bridge, killing three people and causing damage.
In July last year, an unmanned boat exploded under one of the bridge spans, killing two people.
At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin described the attack as `brutal` and meaningless from a military perspective, explaining that the bridge was no longer used to transport combat equipment and ammunition.
Previously, the Crimea bridge was considered Russia’s strategic logistics supply route in the southern Ukraine battlefield.
Faced with continuous attacks on the Crimea bridge, Moscow mobilized many measures to protect this vital structure.
According to Western intelligence, in addition to existing protective measures, Russia is said to be using many new tactics to prevent weapons from attacking Crimea.
Russia used smoke generators, in an effort to make the bridge a more difficult target to attack.
Camouflage smoke has the effect of preventing the enemy from observing the target.
In addition, Russia uses air defense systems such as the S-300 and S-400 to counter drones and cruise missiles targeting the bridge.
Russia also mobilized floating barrier systems – equipment commonly used to control oil spills – as a measure to prevent suicide unmanned boats from rushing to the bridge.
Similar to anti-torpedo nets, sea barrier systems are physical barriers or nets surrounding targets that need to be protected at sea, port entrances, and straits from the risk of attack.