KERCH BRIDGE ATTACK
ABOUT KERCH BRIDGE:
- The Kerch Bridge, which links the Russian mainland to the Crimean Peninsula in the Black Sea, came under attack last week.
- The Kerch bridge, across the Kerch Strait, is 19 km long.
- It has two parallel rail and roadways.
- It was opened in 2018 by Russian President Vladimir Putin with great fanfare, four years after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine through a contested referendum.
- One section of the bridge was damaged in what the Russians called an attack by two Ukrainian sea drones.
- In retaliation, Russia carried out a massive airstrike at the southern Ukrainian port city of Odesa.
IMPORTANCE OF KERCH BRIDGE:
- The bridge is important for Russia for symbolic, administrative and operational reasons.
- The Kerch Bridge remains a critical logistical supply link for the Russian troops in the south.
- Ukraine targeted the Kerch Bridge when it was planning an ofensive to retake kherson.
- The plan was to disrupt the supplies when Ukrainians attacked Russian troops on the western bank of the Dnieper River.
- One of the key goals of the Ukrainian counter offensive was to destroy the bridge, cutting off Russia from Crimea.
SYLLABUS: PRELIMS, CURRENT AFFAIRS
