Updated 01:01 | Published 00:59
Suddenly, six dark spots appeared at the Krim Bridge.
They reveal the Russian plan to protect Putin’s prestige building.
But one expert condemns the ancient strategy as futile.
The connection between the Russian mainland and the occupied Crimean Peninsula was completed in 2018. During the inauguration, Putin himself drove the first truck across the Kerch Strait.
– A miracle has happened. Thanks to the bridge, Crimea becomes stronger and brings our people closer together, he said.
Russia has changed how strong the defense of the Crimean bridge is. Anti-aircraft systems, sonar and even trained dolphins would make it impossible to destroy.
But after the invasion, the prestige building has been damaged in several attacks. The huge explosion last October, likely caused by a truck bomb, has been followed by several attacks over the summer.
Ukraine has openly admitted that they struck both the bridge and Russian ships with the water drone “Sea baby”. It is loaded with 850 kilos of explosives and is according to CNN “faster than anything else in the Black Sea”.
Dark spots appeared on image
Now Russia is acting to try to stop more attacks on the Crimean bridge. Sky News publishes satellite images which shows how six dark spots appeared in the water between August 19 and 26.
They are about 30 meters long and lie in a line along the bridge.
According to the Ukrainian intelligence service GRU, it is about ships that were sunk into the water to protect the bridge. Barriers must be built between them to create a line of defense.
On Telegram, the GRU mocks the Russian tactics and writes that the Kremlin has ordered that the military “must do everything” to secure the bridge.
“The latest attacks on the Kerch bridge have once again aggravated the situation for enemy troop formations in southern Ukraine and provoked a hysterical reaction from the military and political leadership in Moscow,” writes the intelligence service.
1 / 3Photo: Sky News
“200-year-old strategy”
According to British military analyst Michael Clarke, sunken ships have long been a common method of defense at sea. Nets or chains are strung between the ships as a blocking wall.
– It is probably Russia’s best way to stop attacks with water drones. But the Ukrainians have developed new smart technology and Russia is responding with a 200-year-old strategy of sinking ships. It is an outdated response to a new threat, he told Sky News.
Drone researcher Stephen Wright at the University of Bristol in the UK condemns the Russian tactics completely.
– I can imagine that these blocker ships could be useful against another kind of attack, perhaps a large ship being hijacked to ram the bridge or manned submarines. But against a weapon as small and nimble as the water drones we’ve seen so far? They will not be stopped by this, he tells Business Insider.