Ukraine claimed to hit a key bridge that links Russia and Moscow-occupied Crimea with underwater explosives two days after it launched a wave of drones deep into Russian territory that damaged dozens of long-range bombers, sending shock waves across the country.
Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said in a statement on June 3 that an operation several months in the making saw agents mine the supports of the Kerch Strait bridge with a total of 1,100 kilograms (2,420 pounds) of explosives.
Video posted on the SBU website -- which has been verified by RFE/RL -- shows a large explosion under the bridge, though it is not clear how much damage the blast did.
The SBU said the bridge was "in a state of emergency." Russian authorities said earlier in the day that they had temporarily suspended road traffic on it, though later on it appeared as though vehicles were again using the bridge.
The 19-kilometer Kerch Bridge, which carries both road and rail traffic, was built by Russia and opened in 2018 -- four years after Moscow illegally annexed the peninsula -- and serves as an important supply route for Russian forces occupying parts of southern Ukraine.
It was damaged by Ukrainian attacks in October 2022 and July 2023 and has frequently been closed during security incidents.
"No illegal Russian facilities have a place on the territory of our state. Therefore, the Crimean [Kerch] Bridge is an absolutely legitimate target, especially considering that the enemy used it as a logistical artery to supply its troops," the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, said in the SBU statement, noting there were no civilian casualties.
"Crimea is Ukraine, and any manifestations of occupation will receive our tough response."
The attack is the latest by Ukraine on Russian targets inside areas Moscow controls.
On June 1, the SBU said it launched a massive drone attack deep inside of Russia that hit more than 40 long-range bombers that Moscow has used in the war sparked by its February 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the drone attack the "absolutely brilliant outcome" of an operation that had taken more than 18 months to prepare.
He has not commented on the Kerch Bridge attack. There has yet to be any official reaction from the Kremlin to the attack.
