Russia claims no damage after Ukrainian attack on Crimea bridge

The Kremlin says a Ukrainian attack on a road and rail bridge linking occupied Crimea to Russia caused no damage.

Ukraine’s SBU security service on Tuesday claimed it hit the bridge below the water level with explosives, in its third attack on the key supply line for Russian forces in the war-torn country.

The Kremlin on Wednesday confirmed the explosion but insisted the bridge remained fully functional.

“There was an explosion,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. “Nothing was damaged. The bridge is working.”

Peskov added that Russia was taking precautionary steps in response to continued threats.

The SBU had said in a statement that about 1,100kg (2,420 pounds) of explosives were detonated on Tuesday morning to destroy underwater pillars of the bridge over the Kerch Strait in an operation prepared for several months.

“Previously, we hit the Crimean Bridge twice, in 2022 and 2023. So today we continued this tradition underwater,” it said. “The bridge is now effectively in an emergency condition.”

The SBU shared video footage that claimed to show an explosion next to one of the many support pillars of the bridge.

Russian military bloggers said the attack had been unsuccessful and speculated that it had been carried out by a Ukrainian sea drone.

The official Russian outlet providing regular status updates on the bridge said its operation had been suspended for about three hours between 4am and 7am local time (01:00 GMT and 04:00 GMT).

It gave no reason for the temporary closure but said the bridge had been reopened and was functioning as normal.

The 19km (12-mile) Crimea Bridge is the only direct link between the transport network of Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The bridge was a flagship project for Russian President Vladimir Putin. It consists of a separate roadway and railway, both supported by concrete stilts, which give way to a wider span held by steel arches at the point where ships pass between the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov.

The bridge was used by Russian forces during their invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when they crossed it to reach Crimea and from there went on to seize parts of Ukraine’s southern Kherson and southeastern Zaporizhia regions.

Russia’s attack

Meanwhile, in northeastern Ukraine, Russian troops seized another village in the Sumy region, Russian officials said on Wednesday.

The Russian Ministry of Defence announced it had captured Kindrativka, alongside Ridkodub, in eastern Ukraine.

Recent Russian gains in the northeast bring the regional capital, Sumy, closer to the front line and within range of Russian drone activity, according to analysts.

Ukrainian officials reported that Russian shelling struck Sumy on Tuesday, killing four civilians and injuring 28.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said at least one rocket fired from a multiple rocket launcher had failed to detonate and lodged itself in an apartment building.

Commenting on the attack, Zelenskyy said on his Telegram channel: “That’s all one needs to know about the Russian wish to end this war.”

“The situation in the border area of Sumy region remains complex, dynamic, but controllable,” Oleh Hryhorov, head of the regional military administration, told the Reuters news agency. He added that Russian forces continue to target homes, farms and civilian infrastructure.

Russia denies targeting civilians since it launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.

Local leaders held an emergency meeting to discuss strengthening the region’s defences as cross-border attacks escalate.

Despite battlefield losses, Kyiv launched a string of high-profile strikes in recent days, including attacks on Russian strategic bombers and the Crimean Bridge.

On Monday, Russia told Ukraine at peace talks in Istanbul it would agree to end the war only if Kyiv gives up big new chunks of territory and accepts limits on the size of its army. Ukraine has repeatedly rejected the Russian conditions as tantamount to surrender.