"It Won't Be Long Now": The Year The Crimean Bridge Will Be Destroyed Has Been Named

• 1.07.2026, 13:33

The SBU has latched onto the bridge like a bulldog.

The Crimean Bridge remains one of Russia’s key logistics routes and, at the same time, a symbolic structure that Moscow is trying to protect as much as possible. At the same time, the bridge remains a key target for Ukraine and could be destroyed as early as 2026. This was stated in an interview with "Glavred" by military expert Oleg Zhdanov, a reserve colonel of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine .

“I think the Crimean Bridge doesn’t have long left. It’s not out of the question that it will be destroyed as early as 2026, judging by how the SBU is operating. And it, like a bulldog, has sunk its teeth into the Crimean Bridge. The ‘Alpha’ Special Operations Center is methodically destroying air defense systems around it—both from the Taman side and the Kerch side,” he said.

According to him, the prospects for destroying the bridge directly depend on the ability of Ukrainian forces to “clear” the airspace above the structure, primarily by destroying Russian air defense systems in Crimea and on the approaches to it.

“Putin has two main ‘pillars’—Moscow, around which he is already trying to create a fourth air defense ring, and the Crimean Bridge. The latter can already be compared to Chernobaevka: the Russians cannot abandon it because it holds almost sacred significance for Putin. That is why they continue to deploy additional air defense assets to Crimea specifically to protect the bridge,” Zhdanov noted.

The expert added that efforts to clear the airspace over the Crimean Bridge are already underway. Zhdanov believes that any weakening of the defenses should be promptly exploited to launch strikes against targets in Kerch and on the approaches to the bridge.