ISW: Russia has started transporting fuel over the Kerch bridge again
Kyiv • UNN
Russia has once again started transporting fuel across the Kerch Bridge, easing some logistical restrictions but making the bridge increasingly vulnerable to strikes from Ukraine.
Footage dated June 8 shows that Russians have started transporting fuel across the Kerch Strait via a railway bridge. This is stated in a new report of the Institute for the study of war (ISW), reports UNN.
Details
According to the ISW, the Ukrainian partisan movement Atesh, based in Crimea, reported on June 10 that Russian troops had recently relocated air defense systems from the occupied Crimea to the Belgorod region. As a result, Russian air defense does not fully cover Crimea.
Footage dated June 8 shows that Russia has started transporting fuel across the Kerch Strait via a railway bridge
At the end of April, the southern operational command of the Armed Forces of Ukraine stated that the Russian authorities have not transported fuel across the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait since March 2024 due to the threat of a Ukrainian strike on the bridge during the passage of vehicles with fuel, which could lead to a fire and possible destruction of the bridge.
On June 10, the Ukrainian military newspaper Militarny estimated that Ukrainian strikes on railway barges across the Kerch Strait on May 30 prompted the Russian authorities to start transporting fuel across the railway bridge again.
Analysts note that it is unclear whether the Russian authorities will continue to use the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait to transport fuel and logistics to the occupied Crimea in the near and medium term. the ISW believes that this would probably ease some logistical restrictions as Russia tries to compensate for the loss of ferries across the Strait, but would make the bridge across the Kerch Strait increasingly vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes.
