Bridge in Crimea collapses “spontaneously”

A road bridge in Russian-occupied Crimea has collapsed, damaging railway tracks underneath it and leaving two people injured.

The bridge on the Dzhankoi-Maslove route collapsed on November 13, and the cause has yet to be confirmed, according to RBC-Ukraine. Newsweek reached out to the Russian and Ukrainian foreign affairs ministries for comment via email.

The damage to the bridge will disrupt Russia’s transportation of supplies in the ongoing war against Ukraine. The railway is used to transport military shipments in the territory, and the Dzhankoi district in northern Crimea is reportedly a crucial military logistics hub.

Representatives of the occupying administration didn’t comment on the cause of the collapse, according to reports, which said one of the two people injured is in a critical condition. The Russians’ investigative committee later said the bridge collapsed due to the vehicles on it, which were too heavy for the bridge to withstand.

Telegram channels reported that a truck and a car were on the bridge at the time of its collapse, and one channel in particular, the CHP Severnyi Krym (Emergency Northern Crimea) Telegram channel, said that eyewitness accounts reported that the bridge could not bear the truck’s weight, according to Pravda.com.

It isn’t the only bridge in Crimea to suffer damage recently. The Kerch bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait Bridge, was “living in its final days” in September, according to the Ukrainian group Atesh, and it is in need of repairs and it has sustained structural damage.

The bridge, used by Russia to connect the country with Crimea, was opened by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 and allows Russians to transport supplies for forces in southwestern Ukraine.

In an attempt to recapture Crimea, Ukraine struck the bridge in 2022 and in July 2023, and a spokesperson for Ukraine’s Main Intelligence Directorate said in the spring that another strike was “inevitable.”

Crimea, a peninsula connected to the mainland of Ukraine, is a key territory at the center of the conflict. Fighting between the two countries over the peninsula began in 2014, after it was annexed by Russia. Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022.

Russia previously annexed the peninsula in 1783 under Catherine the Great as part of the Russian Empire, and gained its independence with Ukraine in 1991.

Moscow seemed to be ready to capitulate to Ukraine’s demands regarding Crimea in September 2023 when Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov appeared to recognize the territorial integrity of Ukraine so long as it would be a “non-aligned country” and would not “enter into any military alliances.”

Ukraine continues to launch attacks toward Crimea as it seeks to reclaim the territory.