Why do you assume it has to come from a Ukrainian-controlled coast? Why not Russian occupied areas with resistance fighters?
Elite Russian police units entering central Moscow. Members of the Russian military are reportedly being arrested. The source is Ukrainian intelligence.
Cars can easily climb the grade needed to get to the high point (where boats can cross under). Trains need a more level grade. It’s cheaper to make the road grade rise and fall because there’s less concrete involved in the varying height of supports.
Good point.
The wake is coming from the north-east, so the Sea of Azov, rather than the Black Sea.
It’s probably something they’re looking at. What they need to do is take out the supports which take longer to repair and also take out 2 section of spans. If they could drop the steel structures spanning the ship crossing that would take real time to repair and block shipping through the area.
What might work is a swarm of drones that can attach to the steel bridge structure magnetically with thermite grenades. All technology easily cobbled together.
Hmmm… spooks grabbing soldiers, maybe the Big Guy is fearing that the Army may be about to have enough of this, so let’s cut out that possibility?
First that pipeline(s), now the bridge. Russia’s water-based infrastructure isn’t doing too well.
You are correct, I just glanced at the map of the bridge and the roadway is on the north side, so if it was a shipborne attack (and personally I believe it will prove to be) then the attack came from the Sea of Azov.
Now one could argue that there was nothing preventing the vessel from having first sailed from the south at an earlier time only to return when the situation was favorable. Despite Russian assurances there has not been a track record of good security in the region.
Another question I have is that was the train stopped at the time and why? The engines weren’t damaged in the attack and if it had been moving when struck one might expect a derailment. More to the point the presence of the train at the time of the attack is too good to be mere coincidence. Did the Ukranians manufacture a stop order for the train while it was on the bridge then sail the remote controlled bomb boat below it from a nearby place? There would be no logical reason to stop a train in the middle of the bridge unless it was told to stop.
All in all the target is too important for such an attack to be haphazard. Ukraine has shown a lot of ingenuity in their attacks over time. Even if the bridges can be returned to operation soon it represents a propaganda victory akin to the Doolittle Raid, and gives the Russians something else to worry about, not unlike how the Japanese reacted after Doolittle.
This series of Tweets seems like a good initial analysis of the explosion:
The driver may not have been aware he had a bomb onboard. It could be detonated remotely or by GPS position lock.
I love this comment.
at this stage of the war and its momentum, EVERYTHING is crucial for russia (and not in a good way)
… claiming it is not, is “trying to cover the sun with your thumb” (latin proverb)
could we settle for “year”?
.
unless I am missing something here : Ukr has now weapons systems where you load the gps coodinates, pour yourself a glass of red wine, toast to your comrades and press the button
… you make it sound like it were hard for the ukr to hit a train line … bear in mind, those are the same guys who sunk the Moscva, hit 2 bombers 250km ouside their territory and now semi-permantly de-iced the kerch bride
[quote=“Gorsnak, post:9266, topic:960037”]
Russia says it was a truck bomb. Which actually seems plausible, but since they never tell the truth now I don’t know what to think. 
I am sure it hurts twice as much to putin, since this basically live televised now … russians will have a hard time to “this-is-just-a-minor-flesh-wound” it.
in one of the (not too recent) US weapons packages there was mention of something I had a hard time visualizing (and that never made it into the news, either) … paraphrasing here, but it was something along the line of “unmaned maritime vehicle”
At this time, the blast evidence points more towards a truck bomb than a blast on the waterline.
in my opinion this is a STRESS TEST concerning tactical nukes … if Putin doesnt launch nukes now, he will NOT launch them at all …
exiting times we are living … and a hopefully peaceful weekend to us all… 
And the Ukrainians have already got a wall mural of a pretend postage stamp with the bridge on fire, suitable for people to take selfies with, modelled on the « finger to the Moskva » stamp.
I don’t know how to link to the image, but if you scroll down this article you come to it:
To link to image:
- Right-click or tap-and-hold the picture.
- Choose “view in separate tab”
- Go to that tab
- Copy the URL
- Paste here
Thank you both. That makes sense.
Thanks, John.
I’m hoping this is auto-correct speaking.