The telegram channel of the project Radio Liberty Crimea reports that on the night of 17 June, the occupied city of Kerch in Crimea heard the sounds of explosions. A bridge that connects the peninsula with Russia was blocked.
On June 17, 2024, multiple explosions were reported in Sevastopol and Kerch in occupied Crimea, leading to the temporary closure of the Crimean Bridge. Ukrainian forces were reported to be behind the attacks, which also affected Odessa with explosions and air raids. The situation led to heightened security measures and disruptions in traffic across the region.
According to some reports on social networks, the Kerch area is attacked by both air and surface drones.
Strikes on the occupied Crimea occur regularly, in particular, reports of explosions near the Kerch Bridge connecting the occupied peninsula with Russia. The Russian authorities accuse the Ukrainian army of explosions or call them exercises. Kiev officially confirms its involvement in only some attacks.
In particular, the Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov confirmed the involvement of the country’s Security Service in both strikes on the Kerch Bridge: in October 2022 and July 17, 2023.
In the summer of 2023, then-Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said in an interview with CNN that Ukraine would continue to strike in the occupied Crimea and attack the Kerch bridge that connects the peninsula with Russia.
On April 30 2024, traffic on the main bridge linking the Russian mainland with annexed Crimea was temporarily halted as Moscow said Ukraine attacked the peninsula with U.S.-supplied missiles (Army Tactical Missile System, or ATACMS) missiles.
“Vehicle traffic on the Crimean Bridge is temporarily blocked,” a Telegram channel that posts regular updates on traffic on the Kerch Strait Bridge, said at 1:25 a.m. local time. Traffic has since reopened.
The Kerch Strait Bridge serves as a key supply route for Russia’s forces. Ukraine struck the 19-kilometer (nearly 12-mile) road and rail bridge in October 2022 and again in July 2023. The bridge is crucial to sustaining Moscow’s military offensives in southern Ukraine. Kyiv has vowed future strikes on the structure as it seeks to recapture the peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.
Vladimir Rogov, chairman of We Are Together With Russia, a pro-Russian group that operates in the Moscow-occupied Ukrainian region of Zaporizhzhia, as well as Russian military bloggers, said on Telegram that Ukraine had fired ATACMS at Crimea from the southern Ukrainian region of Kherson overnight on Monday.
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