Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said Tuesday that it used underwater explosives to attack the Crimean Bridge, which links mainland Russia to the annexed Black Sea peninsula.
“The SBU has carried out another bold and unique special operation, striking the Crimean Bridge for the third time [since Russia’s full-scale invasion] — this time from underwater,” the agency said in a statement on its Telegram channel.
The blast was said to have gone off just before 5 a.m. local time, causing damage to the base of the bridge’s pillars. The SBU claimed no civilians were harmed in the blast.
Russian officials have not commented on the bomb attack, but authorities in annexed Crimea temporarily restricted traffic along the bridge shortly after the SBU released its statement.
Earlier on Tuesday, pro-Kremlin Telegram channels said a Ukrainian drone crashed into the Crimean Bridge around 6 a.m. local time. Between 5 a.m. and 9 a.m., traffic along the bridge had been temporarily restricted, authorities said without providing details.
Ukraine’s SBU said its operation to bomb the bridge took several months to plan and execute, with operatives planting the equivalent of 1,100 kilograms of TNT on the bridge’s support structures.
The SBU, which published video of the explosion, alleged that the bridge is now in “critical condition.” The Moscow Times could not independently verify the claim.
“We’ve already hit the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. Today, we continued that tradition — this time from beneath the surface,” SBU Chief Lieutenant General Vasyl Maliuk said in the statement on Telegram.
“There’s no place for illegal Russian infrastructure on Ukrainian territory. The Crimean Bridge is a fully legitimate target, especially since it’s been used as a key supply route for Russian forces,” Maliuk added.
Pro-war military bloggers with links to Russia’s Defense Ministry disputed Ukrainian claims that a bomb was planted at the base of the Crimean Bridge, suggesting instead that some type of underwater drone might have been used in the attack.
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