Satellite images capture Russia’s struggle to protect a key bridge from Ukraine’s exploding naval drones and other threats

• New satellite images show how Russia has continued to add defenses to protect the Kerch Bridge.

• Russia has placed additional barriers in the area to protect the country from Ukraine’s naval drones.

• It has also built two towers for air defense systems to defend the prized bridge from other threats.

New satellite images show how Russia has stepped up efforts to protect a key bridge from Ukrainian attacks, including exploding naval drones.

The footage, captured over the weekend by Maxar Technologies and obtained by Business Insider, shows a growing build-up of defenses around the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to the occupied Crimean Peninsula.

The 20-kilometer-long bridge was once an important supply route for the Russian army, but is mainly a symbol of Russia’s grip on Crimea. The country has been the victim of several high-profile Ukrainian attacks, including a drone strike at sea.

Russia began deploying ships to the south side of the bridge in early May to defend the structure and the shipping channel against future drone attacks by the Ukrainian Navy. According to Western intelligence services, previously installed barriers had been damaged by storms.

By June, protective measures had been expanded with additional ships and floating defenses running parallel to the bridge. But new images captured on Saturday show a significant increase in the number of ships protecting the bridge.

Ukraine has used its fleet of domestically produced naval drones to wreak havoc on Russian warships and other Black Sea Fleet assets. The threat has prompted Moscow to add defenses such as those at the Kerch Bridge to its main ports of Sevastopol and Novorossiysk.

Brady Africk, an open-source intelligence analyst and fellow at the American Enterprise Institute think tank, first pointed out the added barrier defenses in a Sunday post on X, noting the dramatic change between early May and late September.

The new barriers are not the only protective measures Russia has taken to protect the bridge. Satellite images taken Saturday show two Pantsir air defense systems near the structure.

Maxar said the towers for these systems were built between August 18 and 23. Their construction suggests that Russia is not just concerned about maritime threats to the bridge from below; it also wants to protect the structure from above.

The bridge was previously hit by a truck bomb. Russia claims Ukraine attacked the bridge with US-supplied ballistic missiles, but said the attack was unsuccessful. Kiev has also armed its naval drones with rockets and missiles, expanding the threat beyond the surface and creating even more challenges.

Moscow began construction of the Kerch Bridge after illegally annexing Crimea in 2014. The bridge is a prized achievement of Russian President Vladimir Putin and symbolizes the Kremlin’s desire to maintain its occupation of Crimea in perpetuity.

Ukraine has previously vowed to destroy the bridge due to its role as a key supply and logistics route supporting Russian military activities in Crimea after the 2022 invasion, and Kiev has shown its desire through multiple attacks on the site.

However, taking out the bridge now would be militarily less effective and more symbolic, as Russia relies less on it to support its forces in Crimea than earlier in the war.

A Ukrainian Navy spokesman said in June that most of the cargo was transported by ferry. Kiev has also focused on these operations.

Read the original article on Business Insider