The British Ministry of Defense has indicated in its daily update that Russia is also increasing its use of passive defenses in defending the Crimean bridge.
The British write on the Platform X, formerly Twitter: “For military logistic support of Russian forces in the occupied territories of Kherson and Zaporizhzhya oblasts, the Kerch Strait is a bottleneck. Russia relies heavily on the Crimean bridge and ferries to cross the strait. Russia employs a number of passive defenses, such as smoke generators and underwater barriers, in addition to active defenses such as air defense systems, to strengthen the survivability of the water crossings and minimize the damage of future attacks. Fhe importance of the bridge to both logistics and symbolism of the Russian occupation necessitates these extensive protective measures.”
Russia has built an underwater barrier
The UK Ministry of Defense continued, “As of August 29, 2023, imagery confirms that Russia has constructed an underwater barrier of sunken vessels and barricades to prevent Uncrewed Surface Vehicle (USV) attacks on the Crimean Bridge. In the southern part of the bridge, there are several ships spaced 160 meters apart. These are located in the same place as the Ukrainian “Sea Baby”. Previously, in September 2022, the Russian Navy briefly tested radar decoys on barges for several days, probably to deter radar-seeking missiles. Other countermeasures to protect the bridge include the use of truck-mounted TDA-3 smoke generators, with an exercise conducted on May 24, 2023. This smoke was activated on August 12, 2023, to deter incoming air threats.”
Image: Kremlin.ru, Vladimir Putin (24.06.2023), CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (image size modified)
