re: Latest Updates: Russia-Ukraine Conflict

That ain't gonna buff right out.

What a birthday present for Putin. We were wondering what those boats were washing up on the Crimean coast were for.

Who knows what else Ukraine SpecOps has planned?

And right before a major offensive? Just Brilliant strategy.

Unfortunately in the interim Putin and his mercs will be targeting civilians in high rise apartments.

Wikipedia already updated. Instead of "The bridge is” it's "The bridge was".
Number of lanes: 0
Lol

“The National Anti-Terrorism Committee of the Russian Federation has claimed that a truck was blown up on the Crimean Bridge.” Hmm

The rail bridge not going down is a disappointment though because once they get that train moved they will have relatively minor reasons to put it back in action. I would have eager the rail bridge go down than the car span of it but still a damn good start. I’d expect the job tries to get finished on the railway bridge but Russia is going to have security crawling all over it for a while so it will have to come from the air by missile or aviation.

Good first analysis
LINK

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Initial indications are that the Kerch bridge was hit by a truck based IED. Damage to the bridge seems overall consistent with this

The railings blown outwards on this video do indicate that the truck was the center of the explosion. There is not much damage visible to the roadway, as the section directly below the truck is under water.

Damage to the section in red caused it to break in half, as can also be seen in the video above. This structural failure then caused the section in blue to fall off the pier and into the water

The location of the blast also aided the blue section in sliding off its support and into the water. The explosion happened right at the begining of the incline. This meant gravity assisted in making the blue section slide backwards and off its supports.

As for other theories currently in play, there does appear to be a wake appearing under the section directly next to the explosion just prior. This could indicate a possible boat. The video is inconclusive and not long enough to know if wakes like this happen regularly

Neither of the two videos available allow us to see the exact origin of the explosion.

Scorching location on the rail bridge pier points to the explosion originating on the top of the roadway and not below. Inconclusive, but it doesn't seem to be the result of the subsequent burning of the rail cars.

As also stated above it could be the result of the burning rail cars, but it is inconclusive as the footage we have of the fire is limited at this time and does not show burning fuel leaking in that location. This could of course have happened prior to the video being recorded.

If it was the truck that exploded, then it is interesting to note that it originated from the Russian side and not the Crimean side of the bridge.

I do not know if security is as strict on this side of the bridge or they mainly focus on vehicles leaving Crimea.

The security check of the truck that was at the center of the explosion.

Hardly the most in depth security check.

If the explosion did not involve the truck, this man was extremely unlucky.

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The last tweet shows the security check of the truck. Guy basically opens the back and says good to go.

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Initial indications are that the Kerch bridge was hit by a truck based IED. Damage to the bridge seems overall consistent with this

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I stand corrected.

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If it was the truck that exploded, then it is interesting to note that it originated from the Russian side and not the Crimean side of the bridge.

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The last tweet shows the security check of the truck. Guy basically opens the back and says good to go.

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If it was indeed a truck bomb, my next question was going to be "How did it get allowed onto the bridge?" Even if it came from the Crimean side of the bridge, access to the bridge would have to be tightly monitored. It's the lifeline between Russia and the troops in Crimea.






It took 4,800 pounds of ammonium nitrate fertilizer to bring down the front of the Murrah building in OKC. Are the guards not checking the manifest for the truck and spot-checking for warning signs of a bomb (for example, 2.5 tons of high explosives)?

If it was the truck does that mean we are looking at a suicide bomber?

Holy shite if true. I wonder who manufactures that? If that is US made and it was used to basically strike Crimea in, I feel like they just ratcheted things up a bit.

This greatly worsens an already poor logistical situation for Russia as regards the Southern area of operations in Ukraine. The Ukrainian military is like a boxer that keeps landing body blow after body blow to their opponent.

It is also another blow to Russian prestige. The sinking of the Moskva, the Kharkiv counter offensive, damage to the unbreakable bridge... hard to put a positive spin on events.

I would be surprised if this bridge could be put back into full service in six months. If those bridge piers need to be replaced, which I suspect they do, it could be longer.

They will have to mobilize a pretty substantial construction crew to remove the damaged sections and replace with new. It’s going to be a dozen pieces of civilian floating equipment or more.