Vladimir Putin himself inaugurated it in 2018. A huge fire broke out this Saturday morning on the Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea with Russia. The event was caused by the explosion of a vehicle bomb, according to the Russian National Antiterrorist Committee, and left at least three dead.
If this bridge is essential for the transport of people, goods and military equipment, it is also very symbolic for the Kremlin. And for good reason, this bridge was built after Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, to connect the annexed territory to the Taman region of southern Russia.
A bridge inaugurated by Vladimir Putin in 2018
Built at great expense by order of Vladimir Putin, it was inaugurated by the Russian president on May 15, 2018. He crossed the 19 km stretch at the wheel of an orange truck, followed by a dozen vehicles, according to images broadcast live on television. .
The Court of Justice of the European Union and the Ukrainian authorities then denounced the attack on the territorial integrity of Ukraine that the construction of this bridge represents.
“Russian pride in the annexation of Crimea”
“The Crimean Bridge is the Russian pride for the annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014. Symbolically it is an Eiffel Tower, so the reaction will be in accordance with this act”, analyzes Olivier Védrine, political scientist and editor of the Russian opposition daily RussianMonitor. on BFMTV, before continuing: “This Crimean bridge inaugurated by Putin, which symbolizes power and Russia, is an attack against both Russia and himself.”
Same analysis for Ulrich Bounat, geopolitical analyst and specialist in Central and Eastern Europe, who speaks of an “extremely strong” symbol.
“From a symbolic point of view it is extremely strong, it symbolized Crimea’s eternal attachment to Russia, it was inaugurated by Vladimir Putin, built by an oligarch very close to Vladimir Putin, it is all these symbols, there that collapse with this bridge”, explains on our set.
“Since 2014, and even more so since the construction of the bridge, there was a consensus that Crimea, whatever happened, would remain with Russia, and especially since it was connected to Russia by this bridge, these symbols fall.”
An ironic attack from the Ukrainian authorities
Russia has always maintained that the bridge poses no risk, despite the fighting in Ukraine. However, he had threatened Kyiv with retaliation if Ukrainian forces attacked this infrastructure or others in Crimea.
The explosion has not yet been claimed, but Ukrainian officials joked about it on Saturday morning, another sign of the symbol that this bridge represents. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry notably compared this attack on Twitter to the one that sank the Moskva cruiser in the Black Sea in April, another “symbol of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea,” and asked: “What else awaits you Ruskofs?”
The Ukrainian Post, for its part, has announced that it is preparing stamps with the image of the “Crimean bridge, or, more precisely, what remains of it.” Finally, at the Kyiv city hall, a giant stamp was installed and passers-by took mocking photos in front of it this Saturday.
Source: BFM TV
