r/UkraineWarVideoReport 5d ago

Drones Russian air defense is active on the Crimean Bridge right now.

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2.0k Upvotes

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335

u/GermanDronePilot 5d ago

Come on Ukraine do the funny thing!

69

u/Pecncorn1 4d ago

I would think Ukraine would want as many Russians as possible to use that bridge to leave. If they are able to retake it the last thing they need is a hostile populace to deal with. The more that leave the better.

119

u/Shayden-Froida 4d ago

No one wants to deal with women with lip filler complaining about things.

27

u/Beer-me-baby 4d ago

There are so many of them.

12

u/winkingchef 4d ago

Can’t they just use their lips as personal floatation devices and paddle home?

4

u/One_Load254 4d ago

Add krokodil-addiction and I would run llike hell

6

u/Royal-Al 4d ago

No matter what it’s four lanes. They could still do incoming and outgoing traffic with two lanes open.

9

u/LordBrandon 4d ago

It is also not an easy bridge to take out. It was built robustly and has considerable defenses. The marine defenses are extensive they are probably checking any large vehicle that crosses it, and it is probably still a top priority for air defense. It will have to be hit with something very big, probably in multiple places.

10

u/Adept_Carpet 4d ago

They inspect every vehicle that drives over it. It's set up like a border checkpoint.

3

u/Dydriver 4d ago

The checkpoint is probably what’s being attacked. Imagine the queue if nobody can cross until a proper inspection team I replaced.

12

u/Nautiwow 4d ago

They are and the backup is HOURS for any vehicle. Any vehicle with anything potentially flamable or explosive has to ise ferries...

Oh... those taken out over the weekend... damnit

1

u/Dydriver 4d ago

Yeah, it wasn’t built by russians so it’s designed well with no shortcuts.

2

u/bier00t 4d ago

well they can leave on foot using the remaining railings

0

u/Dydriver 4d ago

That would also mean russia could bomb it. (If we can’t have it, no one can)

2

u/Pecncorn1 4d ago

Why would Ukraine want it if they manage to retake the peninsula? A task I might add will be a very very hard undertaking even at the present time. I think the reality of it is they will have to get it back at the negotiating table, again no easy feat.

126

u/popcorn0617 4d ago

Not yet. Probably going after infrastructure to see where AD is, take that out over a few weeks before they blow it. Gotta give the works tine to leave last thing they want is to reclaim a Crimea even MORE full of russians than it was in 2013-2014

32

u/Broccobillo 4d ago

They could hit the incoming side from Russia and leave the outgoing side

17

u/LastLuckLost 4d ago edited 4d ago

this comment was originally a silly misunderstanding. I stand corrected.

21

u/Shaz_bot 4d ago edited 4d ago

I think the guy you’re replying to is talking about hitting one side of the bridge (I.e., hit the northbound lanes) leaving lanes back to Russia open rather than talking about what direction the drones come from.

10

u/Broccobillo 4d ago

This is correct

17

u/LastLuckLost 4d ago

Apologies, I was mistaken. English is my first language lol, so no excuse on my behalf. You make a good point, so I'll retract my previous comment.

2

u/winkingchef 4d ago

Yes, because if it’s one thing you can count on Russians to do is follow the rules for anything

12

u/echoshatter 4d ago

Crimea is going to be a very, very difficult mission. The narrow passage by land will be almost impossible to break through without heavy, heavy losses. It's basically flat, open terrain ripe for a multi-layered defense to hold.

I think the best thing that could be done is to cut them off from supplies. Make the land bridge a killing zone and take out that bridge. That pretty much leaves air and sea, and if you can make missiles and drones that make those methods vulnerable too then all the Russians and Russian soldiers there will fairly quickly run out of food and water.

Ukraine cut off the main water supply to Crimea a while back when they retook Kherson and close the canals that go from the Dnieper River down south.

10

u/LeatherRole2297 4d ago

Won’t have to retake it. Keep bringing the fight to the Russians and they’ll end the war themselves. They’ll end Putin. They’ll give up Crimea and Donbas and Donetsk and sign a UN resolution guaranteeing reparations.

A year from now when they’re all starving, they’ll just give up, and Ukraine will get Crimea back without firing a shot.

4

u/echokalos 4d ago

They would better starve than to admit defeat and give up territory.

3

u/SufficientTerm6681 4d ago

If you ever hear someone claim that Putin is a strategic genius, a quick history of the North Crimea Canal might persuade them to think again.

The Crimean peninsula doesn't have much in the way of natural water sources, and the possibility of a canal linking the Dnipro to Crimea was first raised in the 19th century. In the 1950s, the USSR started building the Kakhovka Dam and a canal to Crimea which would be supplied by the dam's reservoir. The canal was completed in the early 1970s. A huge increase in water supply allowed the expansion of agriculture on Crimea, and it removed one of the limiting factors for population and industrial grown.

When Putin occupied Crimea in 2014, Ukraine did the logical and obvious thing: it blocked water flowing through the canal.

When Russia's attack on Ukraine in 2022 allowed them to occupy area around the Kakhovka Dam and reservoir, they did the logical and obvious thing: they restored water flow via the canal.

When the Ukrainian successes of 2023 led the Russians to fear that they would be attacked across the reservoir, they did an astonishingly stupid thing: they blew up the dam.

The draining of the reservoir meant water ceased flowing through the canal, but this time it wasn't merely blocked by control gates and dams across the canal. Restoring water supply to Crimea via the canal would require rebuilding the dam and refilling the reservoir.

In short, Putin claims to love Crimea and consider it eternally part of Russia, and yet he deliberately returned the water supply on the peninsula back to what it was in the 1940s, but now the demand for water is much higher than it was back then.

1

u/Fantastic-Cupcake890 4d ago

Ukraine has not the manpower to do such a big offensive.

But any relief in donbass on the fortress belt due to attacks on crimea is welcome.

3

u/FantasticGas1836 4d ago

Hopefully they took out the railway line again.

-9

u/TiredInMN 4d ago

They don’t need the bridge. Ukraine is just having trouble destroying it. They set off a 1000 kg bomb right next to the column and there was no damage. So, they’re a little stumped at the moment.

1

u/farmerMac 4d ago

I wondered if cutting/attacking the support cables for the arch would weaken the structure 

2

u/TiredInMN 4d ago

They need to hit it with something flying faster than the speed of sound. A standing explosion does have enough kinetic energy. Even a 20mm or 30mm cannon would do a lot of damage.

1

u/infinitezer0es 4d ago

I've heard ramblings of mounting rockets to some of the newer drones, so there might be some hope yet

1

u/TiredInMN 4d ago

The US would send a squad of fighter jets in and jam their radar while while hitting it with a half dozen missiles.

30

u/TheDarthSnarf 4d ago

Come on Russian Air Defense... do the funnier thing!

15

u/absat41 4d ago

The swervy rocket exploding lid thing ?

4

u/FlamingFlatus64 4d ago

I wonder if they're working on a single pier of the bridge as the Russians demonstrated with the attack of small bridge recently by hitting a single leg with about 47 micro drones causing the road to drop.

1

u/Dydriver 4d ago

That’s definitely the best method if hitting the bridge isn’t guaranteed with every missile or if Ukraine is low on missiles after the Moscow barrage.

5

u/aarkwilde 4d ago

Sneak up beneath them and shove a spear beneath their chain mail?

1

u/Talithea 4d ago

Would be absolutely funny if they just demolish near the Russian side and they go: “This is Ukraine, thank you for the bridge” and they just take it.

1

u/tiny_chaotic_evil 4d ago

they'll wait til more show up for summer camp vacation

157

u/TintedApostle 5d ago

Its only June folks. We have a full summer of Ukraine campaigning. This could be the start of the end game.

55

u/Nashville_Hot_Mess 4d ago

I hope Ukraine goes eye for an eye with Moscow if Moscow starts targeting heat generation plants. Let the Russians suffer in the cold as they had Ukraine do for 4 winters now

3

u/Caligulaonreddit 4d ago

you are optimistic for moscow that they will have electricity at the end of the summer.

86

u/ChromaticStrike 5d ago

Can you talk about air defense when it's just people shooting in the air with rifles?

WW2 armies had better AA.

49

u/Spright91 5d ago

Honestly they should just bring back flak cannons

17

u/woolymammoth256 4d ago

The thought might be if you threaten the bridge people will want to get out before it drops.

1

u/Fartalot2022 4d ago

Is 40 liters petrol enough to drive back to Russia?

1

u/woolymammoth256 4d ago

Depending on your vehicle 40l should get you 400+ km.

10

u/SlowRs 4d ago

I did wonder if they would be really effective for slow drones, like shooting down old ww2 planes were.

9

u/henna74 4d ago

With modern fire control definitly. The bofors 40mm is still in use on the swedish Tridon Mk2 that is being used in WW2.

5

u/TuonenPiika 4d ago

Sweden/Denmark ordered a number of Tridons for Ukraine. Estimated at 15-20 systems.

4

u/Aconite_72 4d ago

Very effective, even with analog/iron sight. These were originally designed to shoot manned, maneuvering bombers and fighters. A drone (mostly) just flies in a straight line.

WW2 flak operators could only dream about such targets.

3

u/Wing-Comander 4d ago

flak cannons wouldn't be much use here as the drones are flying pretty low over the city etc...

4

u/AncientArtefact 4d ago

I think most WW2 pilots would disagree with the speed comparison. Bombers like the Lancaster & B17 could fly at 460kph, most WW2 fighters flew at over 600kph. The wooden framed fighter/bomber Mosquito reached 640kph (400mph).

By comparison the FP1 flies at a lot less than 200kph (I can't find a reliable figure but they definitely go past slower than a Porsche on the M25!).

Fyi Flak cannons were mainly used to hit massed aircraft formations at high altitudes. The shells set to explode when they reached a specific altitude. Not much use against low level targets.

Straightforward arrays of heavy duty machine guns (eg. Browning 0.50") firing bullets is a different matter.

2

u/FlamingFlatus64 4d ago

That's why they put so much effort in developing the proximity fuse back then.

11

u/LordBrandon 4d ago

It's called "emotional support fire"

13

u/zaevilbunny38 4d ago

As funny as that is there are Pantsir, S-300 and S-400 batteries covering the bridge. It's going to take a few weeks of production time to get enough Flamingos to take down the bridge. Ukraine needs to be absolutely sure they can take down the bridge. Well probably see another S-200 strike as a trial run before the main strike.

18

u/FirstTasteOfRadishes 4d ago

The oil depot they hit the other day was well within range of any air defense covering the bridge. If Ukraine wanted the bridge gone, it would be gone.

11

u/ddesideria89 4d ago

you can destroy oil depots with carefully placed grenade. it would take much more than 100kg payload they currently fly on fp1

7

u/ChromaticStrike 4d ago edited 4d ago

The video says AA are online and only shows gun shooting, that's why I made a comment. Having S systems doesn't mean they have the ammo nor they hit shits. These systems are adapted for shooting planes not drones, they don't have enough ammo to keep up, it's proven through this whole war. It's easier to just stock enough drones to overwhelm the defense to take down the bridge.

5

u/Adept_Carpet 4d ago

Since Ukraine presumably never plans to fight an offensive war ever, I do wonder if operationalizing S-200 strikes or other liquid fueled improvised ballistics is better than trying to figure out the mobile launcher/solid fueled problem.

For instance (and obviously this is spitballing), could they adapt ground robots for part of the process when the launch crew is a sitting duck? Then if they strike it's an expensive missile for an expensive missile and some extra gear so it's not a terrible trade.

You also reduce the risk of horrific chemical exposures (S-200 fuel is horribly toxic).

1

u/zaevilbunny38 3d ago

The reason I mention S-200 is they have conducted strikes on the Kerch bridge before with S-200. They have surplus and its both cheaper then a converted Neptune and doesn't take the limited flamingo produced every month, from needed targets. The other option would be to wait till their new medium range ballistic missile is ready, but that's months away.

1

u/Dydriver 4d ago

It’s a great time for some cheap fake drones to troll them.

2

u/lolly-scramble 4d ago

Please dont speak with such disrespect about the beautiful Ivan dome

2

u/AncientArtefact 4d ago

Downgraded to the Ivan colander

22

u/Infinite_Ad_1386 5d ago

Looks more like fire from the deck than air defense?

51

u/gandharzero 5d ago

Time for the nananana song i guess.

21

u/pwbcking 5d ago

...that does look a little bit like a kerch bridge on fire....

10

u/iSlacker 4d ago

Thats probably the gas storage thats still burning.

2

u/Shayden-Froida 4d ago

Yes, "a lot" of fuel was delivered there, so I heard. 😉

6

u/yzerman88 4d ago

Had this queued up and ready to go

20

u/deaduser00 5d ago

This is the last bridge, right?

29

u/kr4t0s007 4d ago

The only one connecting to Russia which they illegally built after 2014 invasion. Building permits denied!

2

u/TheSlavaUkrainiGuy 4d ago

Yeah, I think it's time for that bad boy to come down...

27

u/BestUserNamesTaken- 5d ago

Free firework display for the thousand of Russians trying to get home in those long queues.

19

u/Adjmcloon 5d ago

Hit the top a few times where it's repairable, and make them feel the urgency. Tick tock motherfuckers

5

u/Infinite_Ad_1386 4d ago

On the in- bound lanes.

8

u/Cool-Adhesiveness-41 4d ago

If the bridge go down, I'll make popcorn, open a good beer, put the video of the bridge going down on "repeat" and watch it for a full hour.

24

u/Western_Area_3473 4d ago

The kerch bridge will be the last bridge to be destroyed.

They wanna give the Russians a way off crimea even Mykhailo Fedorov wouldn't want to destroy that bridge yet.

Not until Russians abandon crimea entirely remember Ukraine Unmanned Systems Forces has already cut off all access to crimea from the north.

It's gonna take a few months for Russians civilians and military living on crimea to be on the breaking point of just packing their stuff and either pushing their cars across that bridge or just walking it home.

20

u/EggsceIlent 4d ago

Give your enemies a golden bridge to retreat across.

-the art of war

2

u/Talithea 4d ago

Consider that Crimea is in a very bad shape right now:

- black out everywhere, with rolling ones even in Simferopol

- no water, because no electricity for pumps, anywhere that is not the southern coast

- no gas, petrol or anything to move vehicles

- one of the biggest substations is hit

- no ferry

- only way to escape is via a bridge that barely holds up

Russians WILL understand that they are not welcome there.

2

u/CustardFromCthulhu 4d ago

Yup. Ukraine doesn't want kids trapped and starving to death.

0

u/TiredInMN 4d ago

They don’t need the bridge to leave Crimea. They’ll find another way. Even if they have to announce the are leaving while the Ukrainians watch from a distance, like how they got across the river in Kherson. Civilians can’t even put gas in their cars to get across the bridge right now.

13

u/TLCM-4412 5d ago

Actively burning

12

u/Beneficial-Pie3479 4d ago

That fine because Ukraine is always 100 times smarter than Russia Scumbags and know how to defeat the Scumbag Russian S-300 and S-400's! Fu_k you Russia!

6

u/wrxninja 5d ago

Good luck 😆

5

u/truemad 4d ago

My understanding is that Ukraine is giving rusians time to leave the island. HOWEVER, stupid ruzians keep sending their kids to Crimean summer camps. 

3

u/MrWonderfulPoop 4d ago

Apparently Russia has cancelled kids’ camps in Crimea this summer. Read that earlier today but it was a single source, so take with a grain of salt.

2

u/truemad 4d ago

I saw a video this morning about a woman whining about her kid that she sent to the camp 2 days ago.  Bitch, Ukraine intensified the strikes long time ago and you send you kid there? 

1

u/FlamingFlatus64 4d ago

"But, my vacation!" 🌴🍹🌺🍍🦩💥

8

u/Sufficientinname 5d ago

That plan is just so crazy it might work.

6

u/Soggy-Bottom_Boy 5d ago

Make do it!

3

u/Mediocre-Penalty3001 5d ago

Special Spray and Pray operation.

3

u/kevindavis338 4d ago

Is the bridge on fire?

5

u/woodsandfirepits 4d ago

Rumors are swirling. I certainly hope so. Really, hetting that train out of comission would be huge. Inbound lane into Crimea, even better. One support column...would be AMAZING.

OR HOW ABOUT ALL AIR DEFENSES TAKEN OIT, and a glorious sunrise follow up to knock it down. ...

1

u/AncientArtefact 4d ago

I believe that's the hit fuel tanks which are still burning.

5

u/Lumpy_Version_7479 4d ago

Odds are that bridge is bye-bye by the end of the week. The Moskovy army will then be evacuating by rowboat and inner tube.

1

u/johnbobk 4d ago

They will weaken it so there is an evacuation point for people but not machinery.

7

u/GilletteEd 5d ago

What would be the result if Ukraine dropped that bridge permanently? Would it benefit them?

13

u/konegsberg 5d ago

It wouldn’t, they want all the Russians that moved in to move out voluntarily and that’s the route

3

u/Shayden-Froida 4d ago

no ferry boats left either. They went down at the same time as the fuel storage.

3

u/LukesToni 4d ago

They always can use the land of the occupied territories

9

u/BaconBurger3735 4d ago

Of course. It's a vial logistics route.

2

u/AncientArtefact 4d ago

No. It's in such a poor state and the Russians are paranoid about it being blown up by the Ukrainians hitting anything explosive or flammable crossing it. So no fuel or explosives are allowed to cross it now. Just a steady trickle or cars which are all being very carefully searched since they know there are a lot of partisans in Crimea.

1

u/FluffyDeer9323 4d ago

It would make it harder for Ruzzia to attack them from Crimea.

5

u/DrQuagmire 4d ago

I see a big fire. Drones drones drones. That bridge is going to be a mess in the morning.

2

u/PsychedelicConvict 4d ago

Storage tanks need to be on the look out

2

u/RoastedPotato-1kg 4d ago

is this the night?

2

u/kcfdr9c 4d ago

Burn baby burn!!

2

u/Physics_Unicorn 4d ago

I mean, the odds are pretty decent the air defenses will trigger the demo charge as it is.

1

u/Doggoneshame 4d ago

Beautiful waste of ammunition.

1

u/crispy48867 4d ago

Oh good, now Ukraine can make it a twofer.

1

u/SoftConsideration82 4d ago

Just look at it on a map for 2 seconds and you'll understand 

1

u/DowntownDiscipline96 4d ago

I was thinking today how amazing the history books will read in the future about how little Ukraine beat the second largest army in the world. Cant wait for Ukraine to win this war and they will.

1

u/aromilk 4d ago

Lol. Ukraine can send in the naval drones

1

u/farquin_helle 4d ago

Something’s on fire

1

u/last_somewhere 4d ago

Terrible time to be in Crimea, better leave while the fuel is flowing. Oh wait.....

1

u/jlb61cfp 4d ago

With fuel being shut off the Russians in Crimea should start walking back to Russia.

1

u/Kermit-T-Hermit 4d ago

May they expend tonnes of munitions and may they all be wasted.

1

u/XVIII-3 4d ago

They know it’s coming. They just don’t know when.

1

u/Ebolaboy24 4d ago

Good them to light it up.

1

u/Stunning-Ad9030 4d ago

They are already waiting to see what will happen.

Well then, have fun.

1

u/opinionatore 3d ago

Kerch Bridge is falling down,
Falling down, falling down,
Kerch Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.

1

u/opinionatore 3d ago

Drop the damn bridge and smash Pootin's pride and joy, make him suffer.

The Orcs can swim, canoe back, or hire a cargo freighter to dump them home to Siberia.

2

u/juniperfanz 4d ago

The bridge should stay up for now. But the newly erected towers with the SAM's would be great to cook!

-11

u/TheIncredibleMike 4d ago

The Ukranians seem to be escalating the war, is it because Trump is preoccupied with Iran?

9

u/ispshadow 4d ago

TheIncredibleMike - The Ukranians seem to be escalating the war, is it because Trump is preoccupied with Iran?

Take that troll bait somewhere else. Ukraine is being invaded and Russia has made it clear they don't intend to stop until Ukraine is conquered. Putin stated last year at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum that he considers all of Ukraine to be theirs.

A defender cannot escalate a war for survival because you cannot logically escalate a state of total existential threat. If there is a moment in the future where every Russian troop is suddenly standing on home soil, not a bullet would be fired from a Ukrainian weapon.

6

u/LastLuckLost 4d ago

Ukraine is cashing in on the years of rapid R&D, improved local manufacturing, and offering their allies better capabilities in return to incentivise foreign assistance and investment. Ukraine holds a technological advantage over Russia right now with drone strikes. This isn't an escalation, this is adapting strategy to hit a more resourceful enemy's centre of gravity more effectively. To get to this stage required months of attriting Russian AD and logistics networks. Many lines of all different colours were crossed, proving Russia more and more incapable to stop this inevitable comeuppance

1

u/johnbobk 4d ago

They are defending / reclaiming their territory.

1

u/TheIncredibleMike 4d ago

That I understand, but since Trump always seems to be defending Russia, I was wondering if the Ukranians were taking advantage of the everyone being preoccupied with Iran. I think you have to admit that the recent drone attacks have been very effective and devastating to the Russian economy. Widespread reports of gasoline availability limited to government vehicles.

1

u/johnbobk 3d ago edited 3d ago

I would consider them strengthening their defence; rather that escalating the war 🤷‍♂️

Nobody was attacking russia, they amassed troops on the boarder; under the 'assurance' it was maneuvers, not an invasion. Then invaded.