On the night of 4-5 August, explosions were heard in the temporarily occupied city of Kerch in Crimea. They were heard in the area of the illegally built Crimean bridge. Russia claimed a drone attack, and a Russian tanker was hit.

This was reported by monitoring publics. Photos of the sunset in the area of the crossing were also posted online.

Residents of the Arshintseve district and the villages of Heroivka and Yakovenkove reported that the explosions shook their windows.

Russian media outlets reported that the Crimean bridge was completely shut down, all lights were switched off, and evacuations were underway. The Russian Federation reported an attack by "Ukrainian drones" in the Kerch Strait, both surface and airborne.

The Centre of the Kerch Strait Vessel Traffic Control Service with the call sign "Kavkaz-Trafik" informs that "there are incidents". The anchored vessels were ordered to increase surveillance. It was also reported that the occupiers had launched fighter jets to intercept air targets.

Russian propagandists also confirmed the attack, saying that the Ukrainian Armed Forces were trying to attack the bridge using naval drones. According to Russian "military experts", the attack was successful, and its consequences for the ferry are serious.

Meanwhile, the so-called adviser to the occupying head of Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said that he "cannot confirm the information about explosions near the Crimean bridge", but reported that "all services are working".

"The loud noises heard by Kerch residents an hour ago had nothing to do with the Crimean Bridge. An attack threat has been announced. After it is lifted, traffic will resume," he said.

Later, Kryuchkov wrote that the Crimean 'authorities' are not responsible for the Kerch Strait and anchorages and cannot control the situation in the Black Sea.

At the same time, collaborator Vladimir Rogov says that there was an explosion, and a fire broke out afterwards.

Russian tanker was damaged

Russian public media, citing a source close to Rosmorrechflot, reported that a marine drone crashed into a tanker 30 miles from the Kerch Strait. This information was later confirmed by the Taman Sea Rescue Sub-Centre.

A Russian SIG tanker was hit. The Russians launched a fake news story that it was allegedly Turkish, but this is not true. In fact, SIG was built in 2014 and has been transporting oil under the Russian flag since then.

SIG also delivered aviation fuel from Crimea to Syria, which was included in the US sanctions list.

The first audio intercept from the hit tanker appeared. It could not move on its own, the engine room was flooded. The Russian media reported that two tugs had arrived at the scene of the attack.

It should be noted that the Ministry of Defence of Ukraine has warned that starting from 21 July 2023, all vessels travelling in the Black Sea towards Russian seaports and Ukrainian seaports located in the territory temporarily occupied by Russia may be considered by Ukraine as carrying military cargo with all the relevant risks.

A traffic jam formed on the Crimean bridge after the explosions.

The Atesh military movement of Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars reports that the Russian army in Crimea, especially in Sevastopol, is on high alert.

As a reminder, on the morning of Friday, 4 August, explosions and the sound of shooting were heard in Novorossiysk (Krasnodar Territory, Russia) near the harbour. The Ministry of Defence of the aggressor country stated that the reason for this was an "attack by the Armed Forces of Ukraine" on the naval base with drones, and a landing ship was damaged.

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the Defence Intelligence of Ukraine says that incidents with explosions on the Crimean bridge will continue. This will continue until the bridge is dismantled and Ukraine is liberated from Russian troops.

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