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The British Ministry of Defence said on Saturday that Russia was strengthening defences at the Kerch bridge with barges.
“Analysis of the imagery has revealed the presence of eight barges on the southern side of Kerch Bridge,” the UK Ministry of Defence said in a statement. Information and communications dispatch.
“Russian forces deployed these barges to defend bridges and waterways and to reduce the angle of approach for Ukrainian unmanned surface vehicles (USVs),” the defence ministry said.
The barges were set up between May 10 and 22, the ministry said.
The UK Ministry of Defence said this was not the first time a barge had been anchored near the bridge, which links Russia with the occupied Crimean peninsula.
“Previously installed barriers were damaged by the storm, reducing their effectiveness,” the intelligence agency said.
The Kerch Bridge is a vital military artery for Russia, which uses it to transport military supplies to its occupied Crimean peninsula and southwestern Ukraine.
But Ukrainians see the bridge, which was built in 2018 after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014, as a Illegal constructionSince Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022, Ukrainian forces have damaged the bridge in two attacks.
The first attack took place in October 2022, when a fuel tank explosion caused the road section of the bridge to collapse, while the second took place in July, when a maritime drone was used to target the bridge’s supports.
Repeated attacks appear to have prompted Russian forces to stop using the bridge. report Open-source intelligence organization Molpher revealed last month that no Russian military freight trains had been spotted on the bridge between February and mid-April.
Instead, Russia appears to be pinning its hopes on a new rail route that would run along the Sea of ​​Azov, passing through the Russian-occupied cities of Mariupol and Berdyansk, and on to the Crimean peninsula.
“The railway line along the land corridor is an admission by the Russian occupying forces that the Crimean Bridge is destined for destruction,” Dmitry Pletenchuk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Southern Military Command, told The Economist. Story It was released on June 2nd.
“They know that sooner or later there will be a problem, so they’re looking for ways to avoid the risk,” he continued.
Representatives for the Russian Defense Ministry did not immediately respond to Business Insider’s request for comment sent outside regular business hours.