There has been a considerable explosion on the Crimea bridge, the explosion resulted in the loss of several parts of the bridge which made the bridge unusable on one side. The Crimea Bridge explosion occurred on Saturday local time. It is known that a fuel tank suffered a devastating fire on the Kerch bridge in the Crimea region that triggered the explosion of the Crimea bridge.
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Bridge History
The Crimea Bridge is a parallel bridge built by Russia in the Kerch Strait. The bridge connects the Park Peninsula in Krasnodar Krai with the Kerch Peninsula in crimea. With a length of 18.1 km, the bridge is the longest bridge in Russia and in Europe.The construction of this bridge has been considered at least from 1903. Its planning began in 2014 after the territory of the Crimea was annexed by Russia.
In January 2015, a multibillion-dollar construction contract was awarded to Arkady Rotenberg's SGM Group. Construction of the bridge began in May 2015, and the bridge for cars opened on May 16, 2018 The line for railways is planned to open in early 2019.The bridge is named the Crimean Bridge based on the results of an online vote in December 2017, while the "Kerch Strait Bridge" is the second choice and the "Reunification Bridge" is the third most popular choice. (SINDONEWS, 2022)
The construction of the Crimea Bridge was built by the infrastructure company
 Stroygazmontazh. The owner of the company, Arkady Rotenberg, is a person close to the Kremlin.Rotenberg was Putin's opponent when he played judo. He was even sanctioned by the United States because of his closeness to the Russian leader. Rotenburg himself became one of the richest people in Russia since Putin came to power. His wealth comes mostly from state contracts. On the other hand, the construction of the Crimea Bridge drew criticism from Ukraine, the United States, and Europe.Â
This is due to the fact that Russia annexed Crimea in 2014 from Ukraine. The annexation led to Russia coming under fire and sanctions from the U.S. and the European Union. The Ukrainian side considers the construction of the bridge to be a violation of international law. Former Ukrainian Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin said Russia was building bridges aimlessly.
Not only that, the Crimea region is also isolated, making Western companies prohibited from doing business there. If you look at history, the idea of making the Crimea Bridge was first sparked in the government of Tsarist Russia Nicholas II. However, the construction of this bridge failed because the world faced World War I. After that, the German Nazi government tried to build a permanent structure in World War II, but was thwarted by the Red Army of the Soviet Union. Now, the Crimea Bridge has been successfully built by Putin, despite protests as Russia annexed the peninsula from Ukraine (CNN INDONESIA, 2022)
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There was an explosion on the bridge
The location of the incident where the Crimea bridge exploded precisely occurred on the Kerch bridge in the Crimea region. Reported by Reuters, Saturday (8/10/2022) local time, the incident occurred when traffic on the bridge consisting of roads and railroad tracks was suspended. "A fuel tank caught fire on one part of the Crimea bridge," the Russian news agency, RIA, said in its report, citing a local official. The incident was quite shocking and quite disturbing to the security of the Russian region. (Wibawana, 2022)
Apabilas judging from security camera footage released on social media showed a truck allegedly driving from the Russian city of Krasnodar, about an hour's drive from the bridge westward across the bridge at the time of the explosion. Russian officials named Samir Yusubov, a 25-year-old man from Krasnodar, as the owner of the truck and his relative, Makhir Yusubov was the man who drove the truck. However, when examined closely, the vdeo footage showed that the truck had nothing to do with the explosion. (Adams, 2022)
Others say the explosion came from an unmanned ship On September 21, photos widely circulated on Russian social media showed a mysterious unmanned vessel stranded near a Russian naval base in the crimean city of Sevastopol. The ship resembled a large, closed black kayak, complete with sensors mounted on the bow and a white periscope-like device on it. According to local reports, the ship was towed towards the sea and blown up.
Some even say the blast was the result of infighting between different parts of Russia's security agencies.
When viewed from some of the statements above,
Why Can It Explode and Who is the culprit?
The cause of incident where the Crime bridge exploded was allegedly caused by a car bomb. This was conveyed by Russian authorities, as reported by AFP, Saturday, "Today, at 6:07 a.m. local time, on the side of street traffic on the Crimea bridge a car bomb exploded, burning seven fuel tanks transported by train to Crimea," Russia's national counterterrorism commission said, as quoted by Russian news agencies.
It is known that Russia kept the bridge safe during the war with Ukraine, and threatened to retaliate against Kyiv if it was attacked. Russian authorities did not directly blame Ukraine for the Crimea bridge blast, but the head of Russia's designated regional parliament in Crimea, Vladimir Konstantinov, blamed 'Ukrainian vandals' for the incident.
Separately, the Russian Commission of Investigation said it had 'begun an investigation into a criminal case related to the incident on the Crimea bridge'. The commission said that a truck exploded' on the bridge on Saturday local time, which sparked a fuel tank fire and damage to the Crimea bridge exploded. Â
Apabilas judging from security camera footage released on social media showed a truck allegedly driving from the Russian city of Krasnodar, about an hour's drive from the bridge westward across the bridge at the time of the explosion. Russian officials named Samir Yusubov, a 25-year-old man from Krasnodar, as the owner of the truck and his relative, Makhir Yusubov was the man who drove the truck. However, when examined closely, the vdeo footage showed that the truck had nothing to do with the explosion.
Others say the explosion came from an unmanned ship On September 21, photos widely circulated on Russian social media showed a mysterious unmanned vessel stranded near a Russian naval base in the crimean city of Sevastopol. The ship resembled a large, closed black kayak, complete with sensors mounted on the bow and a white periscope-like device on it. According to local reports, the ship was towed towards the sea and blown up.
Some even say the blast was the result of infighting between different parts of Russia's security agencies.
If you look at some of the statements above, the perpetrators have not yet been identified, but from these statements it is possible that this was an act of terrorism carried out by a group of terrorists, but it does not rule out the possibility that Ukraine intervened in this case.
russian response
Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree instructing security on the Crimea bridge to be tightened after an explosion destroyed parts of this infrastructure on Saturday. Putin also ordered the formation of a special committee to investigate this incident
The bridge is a major artery for Russian forces that control much of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine and for the Russian naval port of Sevastopol, whose governor told locals "Keep calm." Don't panic. Russia's governor for Crimea Sergei Aksyonov said the damage was "not fatal". He previously said Crimea had one month's fuel and two months' food. (CNN INDONESIA, 2022)
References
Adams, P. (2022, Oktober 10). Perang Ukraina: Siapa dan apa yang menyebabkan ledakan di jembatan Krimea? Retrieved from BBC News Indonesia: https://www.bbc.com/indonesia/articles/c72j9y3eq31o
CNN INDONESIA. (2022, Oktober 9). Putin Perintahkan Keamanan Jembatan Crimea Diperketat Usai Ledakan. Retrieved from www.cnnindonesia.com: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20221009044428-134-858125/putin-perintahkan-keamanan-jembatan-crimea-diperketat-usai-ledakan
CNN INDONESIA. (2022, juni 16). Tentang Jembatan Terpanjang di Eropa yang Akan Dihancurkan Ukraina. Retrieved from WWW. cnnindonesia.com: https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20220616191036-134-809934/tentang-jembatan-terpanjang-di-eropa-yang-akan-dihancurkan-ukraina/2
SINDONEWS. (2022, OCTOBER 16). Sejarah Pembuatan Jembatan Crimea, Jembatan yang Dibom Ukraina Baru-baru Ini. Retrieved from WWW.SINDONEWS.COM: https://international.sindonews.com/read/914325/41/sejarah-pembuatan-jembatan-crimea-jembatan-yang-dibom-ukraina-baru-baru-ini-1665929447
Wibawana, W. A. (2022, Oktober 9). Jembatan Crimea Meledak Tewaskan 3 Orang, Ini 5 Hal yang Diketahui. Retrieved from Detik News: https://news.detik.com/internasional/d-6337680/jembatan-crimea-meledak-tewaskan-3-orang-ini-5-hal-yang-diketahui
