Russia spent over €33.5 million on Crimean bridge security in 2022

Russia spent over 2 billion rubles (€33.5 million) on maintaining security of the Crimean bridge, BBC Russia reports.

An enterprise responsible for safeguarding the security of the bridge was receiving 53 million rubles (€890,000) each month for this purpose up until July 2022; this figure was increased up to 66.85 million (€1.12 million) in August. The protection of the vehicle part of the bridge cost Russia’s state budget around 700,000 rubles in 2022.

Moreover, the aforementioned enterprise received 617.9 million rubles (€10.3 million) to “retrofit the bridge with means of ensuring transport safety” in April 2022, having only passed the documentation development stage by now.

Another enterprise received 937 million rubles (€15.7 million) to ensure security of the railway part of the bridge. An additional 70 million (€1.12 million) was allocated on 27 February, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Kerch strait bridge, connecting mainland Russia and Crimea, suffered an explosion yesterday morning. Part of the bridge collapsed, and a freight train transporting fuel caught fire. Three people were killed by the explosion, Russia’s authorities say.

Ukrayinska Pravda says Ukraine’s Security Service is behind the explosion, Unian and The Washington Post confirm this, citing their sources.

However, Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukraine’s President Zelensky, says “conflicting sides within the Kremlin” set up the explosion.

Neither Zelensky nor Putin made a public statement regarding the explosion.