Two dead, traffic rerouted through occupied mainland territories What we know about the latest Crimea bridge explosion

An explosion rocked the bridge linking the occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia in the early hours of July 17. Russian groups on social networking site VKontake and bloggers who support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine reported two explosions on the bridge, at 3:04 a.m. and 3:20 a.m. Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-appointed head of annexed Crimea, announced at 4:21 a.m. that traffic on the bridge was stopped due to an “emergency.” The Russian authorities created an operational headquarters to coordinate all the services responding to the incident.

The pro-Kremlin media outlet Readovka reported that a rocket hit the bridge, causing one support pillar and two spans to collapse. Russia’s Transport Ministry said that the roadway on the bridge had been damaged on the Crimea side, but “the structures of the spans themselves are on their supports.” Vladimir Konstantinov, the head of Crimea’s Russian-installed parliament, said that Ukrainian forces were behind the attack. The Russian Defense Ministry has not commented on the cause of the explosion.

According to the Russian authorities, two people were killed. Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov reported the deaths. He says a couple from the Belgorod region were killed and their daughter sustained serious injuries. Russian media reported that the victims were 40-year-old Alexey Kulik and 36-year-old Natalia Kulik from Novy Oskol, a town in the Belgorod region. Officials said that their 14-year-old daughter sustained a closed brain injury but that she’s conscious and expected to survive.

The bridge has been closed to vehicles. The Russian authorities suggested motorists take an “alternative route” through annexed territories. The government-run Telegram channel Glavniy Most posted a map showing how drivers can get to Crimea through Mariupol, Berdyansk, and Melitopol. The Russian Transport Ministry recommended that drivers go through Ukraine’s annexed territories. Ferry service across the Kerch Strait was temporarily suspended but resumed around 10:00 a.m. local time.

The occupation authorities in eastern Crimea will open temporary accommodation centers for tourists, Oleg Kryuchkov, an advisor to the Kremlin-installed governor of Crimea, told Russian state media. According to him, tourists will be able to “receive any help and information about alternate routes, railway services, and ferry services.” Kryuchkov added that checkpoints are operating on the land route through Ukraine’s occupied territories in Armyansk, Dzhankoy, and Perekop, and that tourists who are unable to leave the peninsula will be allowed to extend their stays there for free.

The attack was a special operation of Ukraine’s Armed Forces (AFU) and the Naval Forces of Ukraine, report Ukrainian Pravda and RBC Ukraine, citing sources in Ukraine’s security services. According to the source, naval drones aided in the attack on the bridge. “Getting to the bridge was complex, but in the end they managed to do it,” one source told RBC Ukraine. 

Several hours before the bridge explosion, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of Ukraine’s ground forces, warned that a “lullaby” was being “prepared for the Russians.” Syrskyi’s message, which he posted on Telegram on Sunday evening, caught the attention of both Ukrainian and Russian news outlets. After reports that the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) was involved in the explosion appeared in the media, the agency posted a modified version of a Ukrainian lullaby, writing that a “bridge” had “gone to sleep again.” The SBU told the outlet RBC Ukraine that it would provide details about the blast “after [Ukraine’s] victory.”

The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case on terrorism in connection with the explosion. According to investigators, a “terrorist attack committed by Ukrainian special services” on the night of July 16 damaged one section of the Kerch bridge, killed two civilians, and injured a child. Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that two Ukrainian naval drones were used in the attack.

Ukraine’s military intelligence did not comment on the cause of the incident on the bridge, and said the bridge itself is a “superfluous structure.” Andriy Yusov, spokesperson for Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said that the destruction of a section of the bridge will produce logistical problems for Russia’s military, which uses Crimea “as a large logistical hub for moving forces and equipment deep into Ukrainian territory. Nataliya Gumenyuk, spokesperson for the Southern Operation Command of Ukraine’s Armed Forces suggested that the explosion could be a false flag attack from Russia. She pointed out that the Russia-Ukraine grain deal expires on July 17 and no extension has been announced yet.

A week before the explosion, the Russian Defense Ministry reported that the Ukrainian Army was planning to attack the Crimean Bridge. The ministry said that on July 9, Ukrainian troops launched missiles at targets in Crimea and in Russia’s Rostov and Kaluga regions and that Russian air defenses downed four of them.

In 2022–2023, traffic across the Crimean Bridge was limited due to repair operations following an explosion on the structure in October 2022. The Russian authorities accused Ukrainian intelligence of orchestrating the October blast. Kyiv denied responsibility, but the Ukrainian Defense Ministry included the explosion in its list of Ukraine’s military successes in the first 500 days of Russia’s full-scale invasion. In recent weeks, miles-long traffic jams have formed because of mandatory inspections for all passenger vehicles crossing the bridge.

Meduza cannot immediately verify these claims/statements.