Photos show damage after fireball engulfed Russian bridge to Crimea
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A look at the Kerch Strait Bridge fire. Photo: Vera Katkova/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images
More images of the massive explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge that links Crimea to Russia surfaced online Saturday.
Why it matters: The bridge — often a political symbol often praised by Russian President Vladimir Putin — temporarily weakens a Russian military supply route.
What we're seeing: Two new satellite images from Maxar Technologies taken Oct. 8 show the extent of the damage.
- Both images show the extent of the smoke from the fiery explosion of seven fuel tanks, Axios reported.
More images showed a zoomed-out view of the explosion with a thick pillar of smoke trailing away from the site.
The big picture: The giant explosion on the bridge comes as Ukraine's military has recently made advancements in the Kherson and Kharkiv Oblasts regions after launching a massive counteroffensive in August, Axios' Jacon Knutson writes.
- Ukraine has slowly regained large amounts of territory, recapturing many key strategic cities, including Lyman in northern Donetsk.
What next: Winter approaches, so Ukraine may need to slow its counter-offensive. This could allow Russia to potentially reinforce its own military, Knutson writes.
- That said, the Kerch Strait Bridge explosion represents a massive strike to a Russian supply route. Russia has often used the bridge to provide fuel and armor to troops in the south.
Go deeper: Fireball engulfs key Crimean bridge for supplying Russian troops
Editor's note: This story has been corrected to change the sourcing for the satellite images. The images came from Maxar Technologies, not PlanetScope.
