Russian troops are preparing for possible hostilities in the territory of the annexed Crimea. A message about this was published on July 8 by the Telegram channel of the media center of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Military Media Center.
According to the Ukrainian military, the occupying forces are carrying out "fortification of the area" in the northern, western and eastern parts of the peninsula. Also, according to their information, there is a strengthening of the protection of the Crimean isthmuses.
In the Azov and Black Seas, Russian troops are focused on "preventing attacks on their ships and fleet bases."
In early July, a traffic jam arose at the entrance to the Crimean bridge from the Krasnodar Territory, and on the 3rd the queue grew to 13 km. The waiting time for inspection for Russians who went on vacation was five hours. Hundreds of trucks were waiting in line with cars. Volunteers distributed water to people, dry closets were set up at the entrance to the bridge, and doctors and employees of the Ministry of Emergency Situations were also on duty there. The headquarters appealed to drivers to “take into account the traffic situation” when organizing a trip to Crimea and “allow time for the necessary checks.” Mikhail Podolyak, adviser to the head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, stated that in this way the Russian troops tried to save the bridge from destruction, using people as human shields.
On October 8, 2022, a truck exploded on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge. Due to the explosion, the tanks of a train passing along the railway part of the bridge caught fire. Four people died . The authorities of the annexed peninsula said that “Ukrainian vandals” were behind the sabotage. Later, the Russian authorities blamed the explosion on the special services of Ukraine. The FSB said that the organizer of the explosion on the Crimean bridge on October 8 is the head of military intelligence of Ukraine, Kirill Budanov. The implementation of this plan was allegedly carried out by another 12 people, most of whom have already been detained in Moscow. After that, only buses and cars were allowed to cross the bridge, all vehicles are carefully inspected.