The explosion of Crimean bridge in Russia on the morning of October 8th 2022 seems something out of a James Bond movie.
A truck carrying construction film rolls with valid permits exploded on the Crimean bridge destroying completely one section of the bridge. The intensity of the explosion was such that a train running parallel to the bridge carrying fuel tankers caught fire causing a stoppage of traffic on the broken bridge. This a second in a series of attacks on Russia. Two weeks prior, on Sep 26th, a series of explosions led to underwater gas leaks that occurred due to sabotage on The Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipelines. Both pipeline pairs were built to transport natural gas from Russia to Germany through the Baltic Sea, and are majority owned by the Russian majority state-owned gas company, Gazprom. This is a significant escalation of the ongoing conflict between NATO and Russia in the proxy war in Ukraine. Russia has blamed the Ukrainian intelligence agency, NATO and especially by United Kingdom in its planning and aid to these terrorist attacks. 3 people lost their lives due to the explosion.
In March 2014, as the violent protests that started in Ukraine led to the fleeing of the Ukrainian Prime Minister to Russia. The pro-russian prime minister Yanukovych had canceled the trade agreement. Since then the violence against Russians in Russian majority areas in the East and south of Ukraine that included Crimea. On 27 February 2014, Russia annexed Crimea.
Attack on the Crimean Bridge
The Crimean bridge is the longest bridge in Europe. Its construction started in March of 2015 and was completed on 15th of May 2018. This was the only connecting road/railway to Crimea from Russia. Putin himself drove a truck across the bridge in the inauguration ceremony.
The Crimean bridge is one of the most protected bridges in the world. This 19 kms bridge was the only connecting road to the Crimean peninsula until special operations(military intervention) was declared by Russia in Ukraine. It is guarded by both the S-400 Triumph and Pantsir S-1 air defense systems, the Whirlwind missile system, and the Plavnik sonar and suppression of saboteurs. If divers are detected at a distance closer than 300 meters from the bridge, a sound signal is turned on with the requirement to leave the restricted area. If an uninvited guest does not change course and swims closer to the bridge within a distance of 100 meters, the intensity of the sound signal increases sharply, to the pain threshold which that person cannot withstand.
With each passing day, interesting facts are emerging regarding the terrorist attack on the bridge. Russia has squarely blamed the ‘terrorist regime’ in power in Ukraine aided by NATO powers for the attack on Crimean civilian infrastructure. Many European union officials including US and UK military has repeatedly urged Ukraine to hit Crimean bridge in the past. Within 4 days of the attack, Russia named the perpetrators of the attack and the people involved in the planning and execution of the attack. It arrested 8 people (belonging to Ukraine, Georgia and Armenia) out of 12 people involved.
According to the Russian investigation, the cargo was sent from a port in Odessa, Ukraine  to Ruse, a port in Bulgaria under the pretext of the Grain Deal. Grain deal was agreed by Russia when the West accused Russia of blocking Ukrainian grains from reaching the global south due to the blockade of Ukranian Ships in black sea. According to this deal, only Turkey had the right to inspect vehicles in black sea and cargo that passes through Turkey to the rest of the world. This loophole was used for the plot. The investigation found that the explosive device was camouflaged in rolls with construction polyethylene film on 22 pallets with a total weight of 22770 kg and in early August. It was sent from the seaport of Odessa to the Bulgarian city of Ruse situated on the banks of river Danube. From Ruse, it was moved to port of Poti in Georgia, and then to the Armenian capital Yerevan. From Armenia, it moved to Georgia and then eventually to Russia due to the loopholes in Eurasian Economic Commission (EEC) rules where cargo could pass without additional customs inspection at the Russian border.
Post this explosion, Russia has hit electrical grids across Ukraine and intelligence unit buildings in kiev. More than half of Ukraine has plunged into darkness.
A detailed plot has been published by the grayzone website to destroy bridge was planned by UK military officials. The attacks on Nord stream pipelines, Crimean bridge and the recent attack on 7 unmanned underwater drones in crimean port city of Sevastopol on the Russian Navy Black Sea fleet have all been done in connivience of the US and UK military.
Russian media has been censored internationally. The rise of far right european parties are pointing towards a wider and more deadly conflict that what has been reported in the mainstream media. These sabotage and attacks on Russian assets is a cause of concern to not only Europe but to the whole world. Proxy wars waged by NATO are ripping apart Europe and disrupting the balance that it maintained with Russia post second world war. As Europe gears for a difficult winter, American government is utilising the conflict to tilt the shifting power balance in the global geopolitics.
Author is a geopolitical observer based in Bangalore.Â
