Russia reportedly fortifies Kerch Bridge in occupied Crimea
Russia is reinforcing the Kerch Bridge in occupied Crimea, Krym Realii reported on July 24, citing witnesses.
Russia is reinforcing the Kerch Bridge in occupied Crimea, Krym Realii reported on July 24, citing witnesses.
In the Netherlands, construction equipment supplier Dieseko Group B.V. was fined nearly 1.8 million euros ($1.9 million) for its involvement in the illegal construction of the Crimean bridge, violating international trade sanctions.
The attacks targeted the servers of propaganda media, telecom operators, and the system for registering and controlling traffic on the Kerch Bridge, according to the source.
The bridge accounts for less than a quarter of the total transiting cargo, and for the rest, Russia uses a ferry crossing in Kerch, which the Ukrainian military struck in late May, Pletenchuk said.
An overnight attack on the port city of Kerch in Crimea damaged two transport ferries, Crimea's Russian-installed transportation chief Nikolai Lukashenko claimed on May 30.
The bridge, also called the Kerch Bridge, connects the Russian mainland with the Russian-occupied Crimea peninsula, and has long been a crucial supply route for the Russian military in Ukraine.
Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over occupied Crimea on May 2, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed.
The news was corroborated by the Crimean Wind and Astra Telegram channels, which also added that the Crimean Bridge was temporarily closed as a result.
Russia's Foreign Ministry called for the arrest and extradition of the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), citing the March 22 terrorist attack that has been claimed by an Afghanistan-based ISIS group, as well as other attacks.
Moscow has been constructing a railroad between Russia's port city Rostov-on-Don and occupied Crimea, as an alternative to the Crimean Bridge, running via key occupied and strategic ares, such as Donetsk and Mariupol in Donetsk Oblast and Berdiansk in Zaporizhzhia Oblast.
Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) chief Vasyl Maliuk was charged in absentia with "terrorism" by a Moscow court on March 26.
Russia no longer uses the Crimean bridge to supply weapons to the front after Ukrainian strikes damaged the crossing, Vasyl Maliuk, the head of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) said on air on March 25.
When faced with questions from German lawmakers on March 13, Chancellor Olaf Scholz once again said "no" to the delivery of the Taurus long-range missile to Ukraine. "Prudence is not something that one can qualify as a weakness. Prudence is something that the citizens of our country are entitled to,
The closure marks the second consecutive night that occupation authorities shut down the bridge. Officials blocked traffic overnight on March 3, amid reports of explosions in Feodosia.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that overnight on March 3, its forces allegedly intercepted and destroyed 38 drones over Russian-occupied Crimea.
Authorities announced that vehicle traffic was blocked on the bridge at around 3:40 a.m. local time. Earlier in the night, local Telegram channels reported that residents heard sounds of explosions near an oil depot in Feodosia.