Russia said it intercepted 12 missiles aimed at the Crimean bridgehead

Russia said on Friday it had intercepted 12 US ATACMS missiles fired by Kiev forces overnight at the Crimean bridge linking Russia with the Ukrainian peninsula, which Russia annexed in 2014.

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“A group of 12 US-made ATACMS missiles on the Crimean bridge repelled the attack overnight,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a telegram.

“All the missiles have been destroyed,” he said.

This is not the first time the Russian military has claimed to have repelled an attack on the Crimean bridge crossing the Kerch Strait.

The strategic link to the Ukrainian peninsula, which Russia annexed ten years ago, was damaged in October 2022 by a truck bomb that Russian officials attributed to Kyiv.

The Crimean bridge was attacked by Ukrainian naval drones in July 2023, causing significant damage and two civilian deaths.

While the system was widely used at the start of the conflict by the Russian military to transport equipment to soldiers fighting in Ukraine, threats to this infrastructure have pushed officials to develop other logistics channels.

Despite a large-scale surprise attack on Russia’s Kursk region on August 6, Ukraine has been struggling on the front for months, enjoying several successes in the Black Sea, attacking Russian ports or ships on several occasions and notably sinking in April 2022. Ship Moskva.

In late June, Russia accused the United States of being “responsible” for a Ukrainian strike in Crimea that killed four people and injured more than a hundred, as it was allegedly carried out by US ATACMS missiles supplied in Kyiv. Moscow says it intercepted overnight from Thursday to Friday.

The Ukrainian military considers these missiles necessary to attack Russian rear lines far from the front line.