Ukraine launches explosive underwater attack on Crimean bridge

KYIV — Ukrainian spies launched an underwater assault against the pillars of the Kerch Bridge connecting Russia’s mainland with Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow has illegally occupied since 2014.

“The underwater supports of the piers were severely damaged at the sea bottom level — 1,100 kg of explosives in TNT equivalent contributed to this. The bridge is in an emergency state,” the Security Service of Ukraine, or SBU, Kyiv’s main counterintelligence agency, said in a statement Tuesday after the attack.

The bridge was closed for transport as of 3 p.m., Russian authorities reported, issuing no more details.

The attack on the Kerch Bridge happened just two days after the SBU’s daring Spiderweb drone operation damaged dozens of strategic bombers thousands of kilometers inside Russia.

The Kerch Bridge was personally opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 and Tuesday marked Ukraine’s third attempt to strike it.

Ukraine first attacked the bridge in October 2022, when a truck filled with explosives drove across the bridge from Russia and blew up one of the sections.

In July 2023, Ukraine’s marine drones destroyed two sections of the bridge. But Russia repaired the bridge and soon fortified it from attacks with special protective barges.

“So today we continued this tradition underwater. There is no place for any illegal Russian facilities on the territory of our state. Therefore, the Crimean Bridge is a legitimate target, especially considering that the enemy used it as a logistical artery to supply its troops. Crimea is Ukraine, and any manifestations of occupation will receive our tough response,” SBU General Vasyl Malyuk said in a statement Tuesday.

At approximately 3 p.m local time, locals heard another two blasts in the vicinity of the Crimean bridge