Ukraine’s Spy Chief: ATACMS Can Cut Russia’s Link to Crimea

There is a reason why Ukraine is not going to touch the bridge anytime soon.

The Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea and Russia, has been a key supply route for the Russian war machine since the start of their war against Ukraine.

The Russians have built an alternative rail route through southern Zaporizhzhia to move supplies in and out of Crimea, reducing their dependency on the Crimean bridge. At least, that is what they wanted us to think — that the military value of the bridge is not so high and they have multiple routes to continue their operations in the south.

In some ways, that is true.

The military value of the bridge has indeed come down. But then, your enemy has two supply routes instead of one. From a military operations perspective, the value of the bridge may have decreased, but it did not drop to zero.

The propaganda value of that bridge will always remain high.

A blow to the bridge would be a huge hit to the facade the Kremlin has built inside Russia. The posture they maintain — that they are on the ascendancy and the war is worth the pain it causes average Russians — would be shattered in one go. The reactive response from average Russians, the ultranationalist community, and the elites in Russia cannot be predicted. But it is not going to be good.