The Russian newspaper Kommersant, citing investigation materials, described how Ukrainian forces managed to successfully attack the Crimean Bridge in October 2022.
How Ukraine blew up the Crimean bridge
According to the Russian media, the Ukrainian Security Service allegedly used an improvised explosive device with a capacity equivalent to 10 tonnes of TNT for the first attack on the Crimean Bridge.
In addition, it is noted that it was based on solid rocket fuel hidden in reels of plastic film.
In early August 2022, the film on 22 pallets, weighing 22.7 tonnes, was shipped from Odesa to the Bulgarian city of Ruse. From there, it went to Poti, Georgia, and then to Yerevan. While the film was at the Transalian terminal in Yerevan, the cargo was cleared through customs, with some of the accompanying documents replaced.
According to Russian investigators, on 4 October, the film was transported by a DAF truck across the Georgian-Russian border at the Verkhny Lars checkpoint and delivered two days later to a wholesale base in Armavir (Krasnodar Territory).
After that, it is stated that the pallets were loaded into an International ProStar truck with a trailer driven by a Russian citizen, Makhir Yusubov (who was unaware of the plans).
The latter was supposed to bring the film from Ulyanovsk-based PEK-34 LLC to the address of Extra LLC registered in Simferopol. Such complicated movements were necessary in order to weaken the attention of the security forces to the cargo.
Russia believes that the Crimean Bridge was attacked by the SSU
According to Russian experts, a foreign-made hexogen-based explosive was used to detonate the explosive mixture.
In addition, it is noted that the detonator, also hidden under the film, was triggered by a GPS signal "at the moment of passing a predefined point of the route".
What is important to understand is that this was the 156th kilometre of the Novorossiysk-Kerch motorway.
The explosion resulted in the collapse of two spans of the bridge connecting the 235th and 236th pillars, and damaged 17 tank cars of a freight train.The Russian Investigative Committee believes that the explosion was organised by the Security Service of Ukraine.
