The US-based Institute for the Study of War reported on 10 June that Russian forces have started transporting fuel across the Kerch Strait railway bridge, a move potentially prompted by recent Ukrainian strikes against Russian military and logistics assets.
The Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait Bridge, is a pair of parallel bridges that span the Strait of Kerch between the Taman Peninsula of Krasnodar Krai in Russia and the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea.
According to the ISW, the Ukrainian partisan movement Atesh claimed on 10 June that “Russian forces recently redeployed air defense systems from Russian occupied Crimea to Belgorod Oblast, and that Russian air defenses are not completely covering Crimea as a result.”
Footage dated 8 June shows that Russia has begun transporting fuel across the Kerch Strait across the railway bridge, the report states. Ukrainian Southern Operational Command Spokesperson Captain Third Rank Dmytro Pletenchuk had previously stated on 29 April that “Russian authorities have not transported fuel across the Kerch Strait railway bridge since March 2024 due to the threat of a Ukrainian strike against the bridge as a fuel transport crossed, which could ignite and possibly destroy the bridge.”
The Ukrainian military-focused news outlet Militarnyi assessed on 10 June that “Ukrainian strikes against railway barges across the Kerch Strait on 30 May prompted Russian authorities to begin transporting fuel across the railway bridge again,” according to the ISW report.
The report notes that it is unclear whether Russian authorities will continue to use the Kerch Strait railway bridge for fuel and logistics transport to occupied Crimea in the near to medium term, but states that doing so “would likely alleviate some logistics constraints as Russia struggles to compensate for lost ferries across the strait but would leave the Kerch Strait bridge increasingly vulnerable to Ukrainian strikes, particularly if Russian air defense coverage of Crimea is degraded as Atesh reported.”
The UK intel reported on 8 June that Russia fortified the Crimean bridge with barges to fend off Ukrainian attacks. The British Defense Ministry identified the satellite images showing eight barges on the southern side of the Crimean Bridge. “These barges were deployed by Russian forces in an attempt to defend the bridge and shipping channel, reducing the angles of approach for Ukrainian Unnamed Surface Vehicles,” the review states.
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