Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) predict an increasing vulnerability of the Kerch Bridge after the latest attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
American experts made this statement in their new report.
Vulnerability of the Kerch Bridge: what they say in ISW
ISW does not rule out that the attacks on barges in Kerch on May 30 could prompt Russian authorities to ease logistics restrictions regarding the transportation of fuel and other logistics across the Crimean Bridge.
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Although the photographs released on June 8, which recorded the transportation of fuel along the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait, ISW believes, cannot yet indicate the intentions of the Russians to resume logistics traffic via the bridge in the near or medium term.
– Obviously, Russia is trying to compensate for lost ferry transportation, but this will make the Kerch Strait bridge even more vulnerable to attacks from Ukraine, especially if the state of Russian air defense in Crimea deteriorates , – American analysts note.
What is the situation in Crimea after the latest attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces
Recall that the Russians have not transported fuel across the Kerch Bridge since March 2024, fearing fire and further destruction of the illegally built structure during possible attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
Instead, the occupiers transported fuel by barge.
However, after the Ukrainian Armed Forces struck the ferries in Kerch on May 30, photographs appeared online as evidence that the Russian Federation had resumed transporting fuel via the railway bridge.
By the way, yesterday’s successful defeat of one S-400 anti-aircraft missile battalion of the Russian Federation in the Dzhankoy area and two S-300 anti-aircraft missile battalions near Chernomorskoe and Yevpatoriya also adds to the vulnerability of the Kerch Bridge.
Especially since the Russian military command ordered the occupiers belonging to the air defense units to evacuate from Crimea along with their families.
It should be noted that this order coincided with the movement of Russian air defense systems from the temporarily occupied peninsula to the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation.
The full-scale war in Ukraine has been going on for the 839th day.
The situation in cities can be monitored on the interactive map of military operations in Ukraine and on the map of air raids in Ukraine.
