The weekend saw a pretty awesome event from Ukraine in the Russian war against them: they were able to significantly damage a major symbol of Russia’s aggression, the Kerch Bridge. This bridge was built after Russia invaded and annexed the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, the start of their land grab and illegal war with Ukraine. After taking Crimea, they put a bridge (and started restricting access and harassing naval traffic to the Azov Sea) so they could more easily move people and materiel from Russia into Ukraine.
As many commentators noted, there were two shining examples of Russian dominance in the Crimea area: their Black Sea flagship Moskva (part of the fleet stationed in Crimea) and the Kerch Bridge (Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense after fire on Crimea bridge: What’s next in line, Russians? – ukrinform.net; Crimean bridge: Excitement and fear in Ukraine after bridge blast – BBC). The Moskva was sunk back in April (wikipedia), and was a huge blow to Russia. Their pundits might be able to explain the rout their army experienced in Kyiv, but for puny Ukraine to sink their prized missile cruiser? Unthinkable! The state media was aghast at such a brazen “act of war” (See reaction on Russian state TV after major ship sunk – youtube.com).
The attack on the Kerch Bridge, however it was done, was definitely a masterful action by Ukraine. Regardless of how exactly it was accomplished, it caused a major disruption to Russia’s war efforts. Video shows that there was very little traffic on the bridge at the time, so I think it was timed to minimize potential civilian casualties. This attack was also loudly decried on Russian state television, with Putin himself calling it an act of terrorism (Putin calls Kerch Bridge attack “a terrorist act” by Kyiv – AP News; Ukraine war: Russian hawks celebrate deadly response to Crimea setback – BBC).
So how did Russia choose to respond to this action during a time of war? By showing that nothing Ukraine could possibly do would ever come close to the terrorism Russian can do (and has been doing for the past eight months). Russia launched nearly 90 guided missiles all across Ukraine, hitting dozens of civilian targets, doing so at rush hour when maximum casualty rates could be gained (Russian missile attacks reported all over Ukraine – ukrinform.net).
Russia’s claims that Ukraine targeted “civilian infrastructure” are only partially true. While bridges are indeed largely civilian infrastructure, the Geneva Conventions note the role that bridges have in military operations during times of war, which makes them legitimate targets (Ukraine Update: Tankies hyperventilate over Kerch bridge strike – DailyKos). Russia, on the other hand, seems to only target civilian infrastructure; schools, hospitals, apartment buildings, shopping centers do not have military value — only “terror” value.
Despite the obvious differences in targeting by Ukraine and Russia — where the former is fighting a war and the latter is sponsoring terrorism — Russia continues to call Ukrainian actions “acts of war,” completely oblivious to the irony.
October 11, 2022: A couple extra links to the point I was trying to make:
Thank you for the updates. I really appreciate you providing the information and your insights.
Always in my heart and prayers.