The Kerch Bridge, officially opened in 2018, has become one of the main targets of Ukrainian attacks in 2022 and 2023. However, today, it is not the military focal point it once was during the early years of the war. According to the Italian source RID, the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, indicated that the bridge’s importance has diminished.
“It appears that such efforts are no longer justifiable,” Reed noted, highlighting that the Kerch Bridge no longer holds the same strategic significance for Ukrainian missiles. Moscow’s actions seem to have relegated it to a non-strategic status. In the past three months, only one train with 55 cars—mostly carrying fuel—has crossed the bridge.
Italian journalists drew a stark comparison to the traffic on the bridge in 2022. Back then, up to 46 wagons transported ammunition, weapons, equipment, and fuel for the Russian Army daily before the October attack. Today, RID reports that a maximum of five wagons, mainly civilian and passenger, now traverse the Kerch Bridge.
Recently, Ukraine has intensified its attacks on occupied Crimea, focusing on Russian military assets in the Black Sea region. On April 30, a Russian official reported that air defense systems intercepted Ukrainian missiles over the cities of Dzhankoy and Simferopol overnight. Just a few days later, on May 2, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian forces shot down a Ukrainian drone over occupied Crimea.
Moscow’s decision to limit the use of the Kerch Bridge for military transport is, in fact, a strategic move that aligns with earlier reports from BulgarianMilitary.com in February. These reports indicated that Russia was developing an alternative military freight railway around the Crimean Bridge. Videos shared on social media show the construction progress of this new railway line, allegedly filmed by passersby.
The footage illustrates the Russian Federation’s deployment of a rolling stock railway system, which automatically lays the rails according to programmed coordinates. Before this, the adjacent fields were leveled to facilitate the smooth construction of the new railway line.
Russian sources indicate that this new military railway is designed to support the Russian army in Crimea and the conflict zones of Melitopol and Donetsk in Ukraine. Starting from Rostov-on-Don, this rail line establishes the city as a key supplier of military resources for Russia. The railway terminates in Dzhankoy, the administrative center of Northern Crimea’s Dzhankoy district, which has over 35,000 residents.
This construction isn’t recent, though. Reports of work on the new rail line began surfacing late last year. The plan seems to aim at reducing reliance on the Kerch Strait Bridge for military supply routes, especially considering the ongoing conflict with Ukrainian forces over the past two years.
The bridge is viewed as a high-risk asset by Russian military officials. In mid-February, Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukraine’s Military Intelligence [GUR], used his Telegram channel to advise people to avoid the Kerch Strait Bridge in the upcoming weeks and months. This advisory fueled speculation that the Ukrainian military might target the bridge with renewed strikes.
Budanov’s post declares, “Our adversaries should brace for more surprises, and I urge ordinary people to avoid using the so-called Crimean Bridge.” He highlights the decade-long conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which started with the “occupation of Ukrainian Crimea.”
Lieutenant General Budanov emphasized that Russia has lost a quarter of its warships, forcing the country to relocate its fleet to the Caucasus coast and divert its aviation resources due to frequent strikes on airfields and military installations in Crimea.
BM.COM