Crimean bridge may be left without protection

Over the past month, the Russian occupiers have significantly reduced the number of barges in the Kerch Strait, which they used as booby traps to protect against Ukrainian naval drones.

This was reported by the Center for Investigative Journalism.

According to the investigators, satellite images from November 8, 2024 showed 34 boats anchored on both sides of the shipping channel. These barges were creating barriers for defense against drones.

However, new Sentinel-2 satellite imagery from December 8 shows only 18 barges between Tuzla Island and the coast of the Kerch Peninsula. The remaining 16 vessels have disappeared and their fate is currently unknown. The decrease began in late November: as of November 29, there were 24, and by December 3, there were only 19.

Satellite images of the Kerch Strait from September to December 2024: CJR

The publication noted that the first time Russians used river-sea barges to protect the Kerch Bridge was in the fall of 2023. Then, seven boats were chained together and sunk next to the eastern span of the bridge, probably to protect the supports from underwater attacks.

The CHR does not exclude that the occupiers have also started to let barges sink to the bottom of the strait near the western span.

The Crimean Bridge is an illegally constructed crossing after the temporary occupation of the Crimean peninsula by Russian troops in 2014. It connects Crimea with the Russian mainland.

Previously, Russia significantly strengthened the defense of the Crimean Bridge, fearing possible attacks by the Ukrainian Armed Forces in southern Ukraine.

Recently, the Ukrainian Armed Forces destroyed Russian surveillance systems on gas platforms near the temporarily occupied Crimea.

Meanwhile, the Defense Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) representative Andriy Yusov said that the Defense Forces have a plan for both the de-occupation of Ukrainian lands and the peninsula and the destruction of the Crimean bridge.

Ірина Глухова