Major General Vadym Skibitskyi, deputy chief of Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, said during a panel discussion at the Yalta European Strategy conference that the bridge is "not so strategic an object" for russia as it once was, according to the Kyiv Post.
Ukraine has disrupted numerous other logistics routes in occupied Crimea, while russia has increasingly shifted military shipments to the land corridor through occupied Ukrainian territory. According to Skibitskyi, most military cargo, including weapons for russian forces in Ukraine, now moves through russia's Rostov region and then along this land route.
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At the same time, the Crimean Bridge remains politically and symbolically important to the Kremlin. Skibitskyi said that for russia and vladimir putin, the bridge remains a symbol of the occupation of Crimea.
"For russia, for putin, the Kerch Bridge is a symbol of the occupation of Crimea," Skibitsky emphasized.
He also suggested that leaving the bridge intact could serve another purpose, describing it as potentially "one of the ways for russian occupiers to return home."
Ukraine has repeatedly targeted the bridge since russia launched its full-scale invasion, damaging it in major attacks in 2022 and 2023. However, according to Ukraine's Defense Intelligence, the changing russian logistics network means that the bridge is no longer the critical military supply route it once was.
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