Ukraine’s Security Service says it carried out underwater attack to blow up Crimean Bridge supports

Meduza.io

On Tuesday, Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) said it had carried out an operation to blow up the underwater supports of the Crimean Bridge. While the SBU claimed the bridge was in “critical condition,” traffic was only suspended briefly before being restored — until Russian Telegram channels reported a second suspension and signs of a renewed attack. Here’s what we know so far.

Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) claims it has carried out a “new and unique special operation” to damage the supports of the Crimean Bridge with an underwater explosion.

In a statement, the SBU said its operatives planted explosives on the bridge’s supports over the course of several months and detonated the “first explosive device,” with an estimated yield of around 1,100 kilograms in TNT equivalent, on Tuesday, June 3 at 4:44 a.m. local time.

According to the SBU, the blast damaged the underwater sections of the bridge’s supports. “The bridge is now in critical condition,” the press release states. No civilians were injured.

The operation was personally overseen by SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk, the agency said. “God loves a trinity, and the SBU always finishes what it starts — and never repeats itself. We hit the Crimean Bridge twice before, in 2022 and 2023. Today we continued that tradition — this time underwater,” Malyuk said.

A Telegram channel that monitors the bridge reported around 6:00 a.m. Moscow time that traffic had been temporarily suspended, but said it was restored by 9:00 a.m. As of 2:00 p.m., there were no lines at the checkpoint on the Kerch side, and about 120 vehicles were waiting on the Taman side, according to the channel.

Around 3:30 p.m., the same Telegram channel again reported a temporary suspension of traffic. At the same time, monitoring channels and Russian pro-war outlets began reporting a renewed attack on the bridge. “They’re breaking through the [boom] defenses,” one channel wrote.

The Telegram channel Mash reported on Tuesday that a Ukrainian drone was shot down over the bridge around 6:00 a.m., and its debris landed on the road. Vehicles were crossing the bridge from the Taman side at the time, but no injuries were reported, and according to Mash, there was no damage. The bridge was closed for three hours while specialists inspected the site and cleared the debris.

In October 2022, an explosion on the Crimean Bridge caused part of the road section to collapse and set fire to a train hauling fuel on the railway section. Five people were killed in the blast. In August 2023, Malyuk described the October attack as “one of the SBU’s operations.”

On the night of July 17, 2023, the bridge was attacked by naval drones. A couple traveling across it in a car was killed in the blast, and their 14-year-old daughter was injured. The SBU later revealed details of the operation and shared footage of the strike with CNN. According to Malyuk, the attack was carried out using an experimental surface drone loaded with 850 kilograms of explosives.

Ukrainian officials have repeatedly called the Crimean Bridge an illegal structure and therefore a legitimate target — particularly because the Russian military uses it as a key supply route.