The damaged Crimean bridge across the Kerch Strait, which was partially destroyed this morning on October 8, played an important role in the logistical support of the entire southern group of the russian army and occupied Crimea.
Currently, the bridge is closed, and further operation is impossible due to the destruction of three spans of and damage to the railway part by flames. With this in mind, the russians are trying to establish a ferry crossing. But, as always, something did not go as planned and they do not have to hope for a quick restoration of the ferry crossing for many reasons - both the lack of ferries and bad weather.
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Gauleiter of Crimea Aksenov personally promised to restore passenger service by the end of the current day. But, in this case, we may not be talking about ferries, but about passenger ships for 100 people - most likely pleasure boats.
Ferry crossing through the Kerch Strait
Currently, it seems that the resumption of a full-fledged sea ferry crossing from Crimea cannot be established. The fact is that in 2020, this ferry actually stopped its work. The only railway ferry "Annenkov" made its last voyage on September 28, 2020 - and after that there were talks about the sale of ferries.
It should be recalled that the russian federation currently has ten large amphibious ships in the Black Sea, which could well take over the function of ferries. However, some of these amphibious ships may already be out of action due to problems with power plants.
The possibility of operating the Crimean Bridge
At this time, it is reliably known about the destruction of three spans of the automobile part of the bridge in the direction from the territory of the russian federation to the temporarily occupied Crimea. Damage to 1.3 km of railway track was also reported. It is also known that the railway part of the bridge could have suffered from high temperatures during the fire, which could have weakened the metal structures.
According to updated information, the russian federation has already promised to run trains on the railway branch of the Crimean Bridge by 8:00 p.m. on October 8, but it may well be that this will not happen, as in the case of ferries.
Currently, the condition of the surviving automobile part of the bridge in the direction from the occupied peninsula to the russian federation is unknown. According to the available video and photos, this direction of the bridge does not have significant damage, but its actual carrying capacity may be limited. Under these conditions, it is not necessary to rule out an attempt by the russian federation to set a temporary spans using military engineering means.
Land corridor
Also, the russian federation has alternative routes along the Sea of Azov, if we talk specifically about road transport. But the distance from conditional Krasnodar to occupied Kherson increases from 651 km to 880 km.
It is also worth noting that this route will be complicated due to the increased cargo flow, because other cargoes will most likely begin to be transported here. It should also be noted that the capacity of this route is much smaller than the "Crimean Corridor".
It is not possible to establish a railway connection through the "land corridor" at the moment, because the railway track, which previously allowed transportation from the russian federation, was dismantled in 2018 near Dokuchaevsk in Donetsk region.
The restoration of this railway line may be quite a difficult task for the russians due to the fact that it is about 10 km from the front line and it is in the zone of barrel artillery shelling.
Thus, all the logistics of the entire southern grouping of the RUSSIAN army can currently be provided only on the M14 highway Mariupol - Melitopol - Kherson. That is why the restoration of the "Crimean corridor" will be extremely important for russian troops.
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