BREAKING: Ukraine's SBU attacks Crimean Bridge by mining underwater supports
Editor’s note: The story is being updated.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) carried out the third attack against the Crimean Bridge during the full-scale war, mining and damaging its underwater supports, the SBU announced on June 3.
“The operation lasted for several months. SBU agents mined the supports of this illegal construction,” the SBU said on Telegram.
Constructed after Russia’s illegal occupation of Crimea in 2014, the Crimean Bridge is a critical supply and transport route for Russian forces to the occupied Ukrainian territories.
“And today, without inflicting any civilian casualties, the first explosive was activated at 4:44 a.m.,” the SBU said.
Underwater supports of the bridge’s piers were severely damaged at the bottom as 1,100 kilograms of explosives in TNT equivalent were detonated, according to the statement.
The operation, which follows Ukraine’s mass drone strike against Russia’s strategic aviation on June 1, was personally supervised by SBU chief Vasyl Maliuk.
The bridge suffered significant damage during two previous Ukrainian attacks in October 2022 and July 2023, though neither managed to take the bridge out of commission. It also holds a significant symbolic value, as the $4 billion project was a political statement designed to affirm Russia’s illegal annexation of the Crimean Peninsula.
Russia’s Defense Ministry previously claimed that three Ukrainian drones were downed over Crimea overnight on June 3.
The same day, the Crimean Bridge was closed between 6 and 9 a.m. local time, according to local Telegram channels. The Mash Telegram channel reported that a Ukrainian drone was shot down over the bridge, and its debris fell onto the road.
The Kyiv Independent could not verify the claims.
The Kyiv IndependentChris York