Moscow has presented largely Russian-speaking Crimea as a historic and cherished part of Russia and, especially this year, one where Russians could holiday in large numbers, supposedly safe from the war.
On Saturday, hundreds of people who had hoped to drive to Crimea from the Russian town of Kerch were redirected to the ferry port, only to find that high winds were preventing any sailings.
Kirill Stremousov, the Russian-installed deputy administrator of the Kherson region, said the bridge incident “will not affect the army supply very much”.
“But there will be problems with logistics for Crimea,” he added in a post on social media.
Mykola Bielieskov of the Ukrainian Institute of Strategic Studies, which advises the presidency in Kyiv, said the Kerch bridge was irreplaceable for Russia’s invasion forces, and if it were severed, “the whole Russian southern front will crumble quickly and easily”.
Although Moscow’s forces have seized a stretch of coastal Ukraine linking the Kherson region and Crimea to Russia, Bielieskov said the transport connections there were poor, and that Russia had preferred to send reinforcements to Kherson along the more circuitous route of the bridge into Crimea.
Russian Railways said trains heading for Crimea would be subject to extra checks, and that it was working with the government to find the “best way to deliver goods to the peninsula”.
In a video message Sergei Aksyonov, the Crimea governor, said he wanted to “assure Crimeans that the Republic of Crimea is fully provided with fuel and food. We have more than a month’s worth of fuel, and more than two months’ worth of food”.
However, the Russian Energy Ministry said on Telegram that Crimea had only 15 days of motor fuel.
The Russian governor of Sevastopol, which has separate territorial status in Crimea as home to the Black Sea fleet, also sought to reassure locals.
“We are not cut off from the mainland!” Mikhail Razvozzhayev posted on Telegram. “Keep calm. Don’t panic.”
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