The Crimea Bridge
Context:
- The road-and-rail bridge linking Russia and the Crimean Peninsula was damaged in a powerful blast on recently, hitting a crucial supply route for Russian forces in Ukraine.
Importance of the Bridge:
- The bridge is essential for the delivery of goods such as food, fuel, and other necessities to Crimea, where the Black Sea Fleet of Russia has historically called the port of Sevastopol home.
- After Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24 and sent forces from the Crimea to take control of much of the Kherson region and some of the neighbouring Zaporizhzhia province, it also became a crucial supply route for Russian forces.
- According to the Russian Defense Ministry, existing land and maritime channels could supply those troops with whatever they needed.
Location:
- This 19 km long bridge is constructed over the Kerch Strait.
The Kerch Strait –
- The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia’s Krasnodar Krai in the east.
- The strait is 3.1 kilometres to 15 kilometres wide and up to 18 metres deep.
Crimean Peninsula:
- Crimea is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea. It has a population of 2.4 million, made up mostly of ethnic Russians, with significant Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar minorities.
- The peninsula is almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov.
Source The Hindu