Russia preparing a response to attack on Crimea bridge

Russian President Vladimir Putin said yesterday his defence ministry was preparing proposals for a response to an overnight attack that damaged the road bridge linking Crimea to southern Russia, for which he blamed Ukraine.
At the end of a televised video meeting with national and regional officials to assess the consequences of the attack, Putin called it a cruel and senseless act, as he said the bridge “has not been used for military transportation for a long time”.
Russian authorities had said a couple driving over the bridge to go on holiday in Crimea had been killed, and their 14-year-old daughter had been injured.
Kyiv did not officially claim responsibility, but Ukrainian media said Ukrainian security services had deployed maritime drones against the bridge.
The attack was similar to one in October, implicitly claimed by Ukraine, that put both the road and rail bridges out of action for a time.
After two such incidents in his war with Ukraine, Putin demanded “concrete” proposals to ensure the security of the bridge, a prestige project that he instigated after Russia seized and then unilaterally annexed the peninsula on the Black Sea from Ukraine in 2014.
The latest attack coincided with the summer holiday season, and meant Russian tourists wanting to drive to or from Crimea would face the prospect of long queues for a car ferry, or crossing territory seized by Russia that Ukraine has vowed to recapture.
Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin told the video conference that there was no damage to the pylons of the 19km bridge, but that a span carrying traffic in one direction had been completely destroyed and would have to be rebuilt.
He said road traffic would resume in one direction by September 15, and would be restored in both directions by November 1. The parallel railway bridge was not damaged.
Kyiv says Russians have no business holidaying on seized territory, especially while Moscow is bombing Ukraine.
The Russian-appointed governor of Ukraine’s Kherson region, Vladimir Saldo, told state television that air defence and other security measures would be stepped up on the overland corridor to Crimea.
But it remains to be seen whether this will reassure the tourists whom the state has been trying to attract to the Black Sea peninsula.
At a time when Russians’ options to holiday in the West are limited because of visa bans and flight restrictions, the attack deals a blow to the idea, pushed by Moscow, that a peninsula famed for its rugged landscape, scenic bays and warm weather can be enjoyed safely.
Ukrainian drones have targeted Crimea for months, and Crimean hotels have been offering steep discounts to attract visitors.
“We have cancellations for the end of July and August,” Elena Bazhenova, head of Crimea’s Laspi tour operator, said in a statement. “We are persuading tourists not to make decisions based on emotions. We expect the situation to normalise.”
Ilya Umansky, president of the Russian Union of Travel Industry, said he expected “significant” cancellations.
He said around 20,000 tourists had been nearing the end of holidays in Crimea and a further 20,000 were due to arrive soon.
Moscow has invested in improving the peninsula’s infrastructure in a drive to develop tourism and showcase the ostensible advantages of belonging to Russia, even as the military’s footprint grows.
The Crimean Bridge, a prestige project for Putin, is the route most Russian tourists choose to reach the peninsula, as well as a supply route for the Russian army in Ukraine.
Keeping it operational is crucial — Crimea’s main airport in Simferopol has long been closed for security reasons.
However, unverified video footage posted on social media suggests that at least one section of the road is down in one direction, although trains are still running.
Similar damage in October took several months to repair.
While there is a car ferry service across the Kerch Strait, its capacity is much more limited. There are also train services to Crimea from many cities in western Russia.