Will Russia let Ukraine strike Crimean Bridge?

The Crimean Bridge is a strategically important facility. To blow up the bridge, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) will need long-range missiles, which Ukraine does not have, Konstantin Sivkov, military expert, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Missile and Artillery Sciences said in an interview with the National News Service agency.

Nevertheless, there are still risks for Russia, the expert believes.

"The Armed Forces of Ukraine may arrange subversive activities at airfields, including at civilian airports. This is the reason why all of Russia's south is closed for flights,” Sivkov said.

Moscow does not strike decision-making centers in Kyiv yet. According to the expert, Russia should prevent Ukrainian attacks on border areas.

The Russian military take preventive and additional measures to ensure Crimea's security, Kremlin's official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said responding to a question about Ukraine's threats to attack the Crimean Bridge, TASS reports. Peskov did not clarify what measures they were exactly.

Earlier, State Duma deputy Mikhail Sheremet said that Ukraine's threat to strike the Crimean Bridge would mean Ukraine's suicide.

He also addressed his warning to Western countries "if they decide to provide the requested weapons to Ukraine."

On June 15, Dmitry Marchenko, Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said that the Crimean Bridge would be number one target for the Ukrainian army after Kyiv receives weapons from the West.

"This is not a secret either for their military or our military. Neither for their civilians, nor for our civilians. This will be number one target to strike … We should simply cut off the main line of their supplies," Marchenko said.

Those residents who "were running about in Simferopol and Crimea with Russian flags will quickly replace them with Ukrainian ones," he also said.

Alexander Khodakovsky, the commander of the Vostok battalion of the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) responded to Marchenko's statement about Kyiev's plans to destroy the Crimean Bridge.

"I do not tend to downplay any threat from any type of weapon. They are designed to kill and they will kill. Yet, the degenerate (Marchenko) should have looked at the map. There are other supply routes from Russia to ensure army supplies bypassing Crimea, and the enemy will not be able to block them. Yet, we should take the statement serious as they may try to do something," Alexander Khodakovsky wrote on his Telegram channel.