PANAGYURISHTE ($1=1.98 Bulgarian Levs) — Early this morning, October 8th, the bridge connecting Russia with its occupied Crimea is on fire. The Kerch bridge is on fire, there is destruction. Information regarding the cause of the accident is conflicting.
One source [pro-Russian] claims that a fuel tanker caught fire. The train has stopped and huge flames are burning the bridge. Other [pro-Ukrainian] sources claim that the bridge was hit by Ukrainian armed forces. A missile was used, some say HIMARS.
What can be seen in the photos and in the video leans towards the Ukrainian version, because the upper level, where the train composition is, is a burning silo, while the lower level is leveled with the sea and the bridge is actually impassable. I.e. a missile may have hit a bridge and the explosion at the moment of impact ignited the fuel train.
Some Twitter accounts wrote: “Ukraine has struck the Crimean Bridge, a symbol of Russia in the peninsula and the only land link connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland. This marks a very significant escalation in the conflict. Tough days ahead.”
At the moment, BulgarianMilitary.com does not have reliable information about whether the Kerch Bridge is burning. BulgarianMilitary.com cannot confirm whether a missile or an accident with the fuel train was the cause of the destruction of the bridge.
BulgarianMilitary.com recalls that yesterday, October 7, a Ukrainian drone attacked the Shaikovka Air Force Base in Kaluga Oblast, located 170 miles from Moscow. Read the full story here.
Updated, October 8, 1:00 p.m. EET
According to several already widely circulated versions, the bridge was blown up. A truck full of explosives is believed to have caused the blast. However, the road for light vehicles and trucks in one direction is divided in two, with a reserved section in the middle. It is assumed that a crash truck cannot cause such double destruction.
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 21 February 2022, the Russian government claimed that Ukrainian shelling had destroyed an FSB border facility on the Russia Ukraine border. Moscow also claimed that it had killed 5 Ukrainian soldiers who tried to cross into Russian territory. Ukraine denied being involved in both incidents and called them a false flag.
On the same day, the Russian government formally recognized the self-proclaimed DPR and LPR as independent states. According to Putin not only in their de-facto controlled areas, but the Ukrainian Oblasts as a whole. Putin ordered Russian troops, including tanks, to enter the regions.
On 24 February 2022, Putin ordered an invasion of Ukraine by Russian Armed Forces previously concentrated along the border. The invasion followed by targeted airstrikes of military buildings in the country. The invasion followed also by targeted tanks entering via Belarus border.
Russia has so far not recognized the invasion of Ukraine as a “war”, although that is exactly what it is, claiming that it is a “special military operation”. According to the UN, in which Russia has its permanent representation, for military action to be defined as a “special military operation”, it must have a resolution issued by the UN. There is no such resolution, which automatically defines the military actions of the Russians as an invasion and war against the citizens of Ukraine.
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