Russia claims ferries near Kerch Bridge were damaged in Crimea attack

Two transport ferries were damaged in a nighttime attack on the port city of Kerch in Crimea, said Crimea’s Russian-appointed Transport Minister Nikolai Lukashenko on May 30.

Kerch is located on the eastern tip of Crimea, opposite the Russian region of Krasnodar. Russia built the Kerch Bridge illegally to connect the peninsula with Russia after occupied and annexed Crimea in 2014.

Local telegram channels reported that residents of Kerch heard up to 20 explosions.

A car ferry and a railway ferry were damaged by crashed rocket debris “while we were repelling an enemy attack on the transport infrastructure,” Lukashenko claimed.

The Russian Defense Ministry claimed that Russian air defenses shot down eight long-range missile systems (ATACMS – Army Tactical Missile System) supplied by the United States to Ukraine, as well as eight drones. There were no reports of casualties.

Russian proxy authorities announced at 7:30 a.m. local time that “vehicle traffic on the Crimean Bridge was temporarily closed.”

The Kyiv Independent could not independently verify the allegations.

Russia uses the bridge and ferries across the Kerch Strait to transport military supplies to Russian occupation forces in Crimea and southern Ukraine.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for attacks in October 2022 and July 2023 that severely damaged the bridge.

Ukraine is calling on its allies to lift the Western arms ban on attacks on targets in Russia. Will they do so?

Following a new Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine is increasing pressure on its allies and calling on them to lift restrictions on the use of Western weapons against military targets in Russia. Months before the offensive, Kyiv had publicly declared that it would not use Western-made weapons.

The Kyiv IndependentKateryna Denisova