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Putin opens road section of Kerch Strait Bridge
Summary
A look back at the opening of the road part of the 19-kilometre bridge linking Russia with Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014.
What did it mean when Russia opened a bridge to a peninsula it had annexed from Ukraine? On 15 May 2018, Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the road part of the Kerch Strait Bridge, a 19-kilometre (12-mile) road-and-rail crossing connecting Crimea with Russia.
The opening concerned only the auto section of the structure, which was designed to carry both road and rail traffic.
The bridge linked Russia with Crimea, which Russia had invaded and occupied in February and March 2014 before annexing it following a referendum that was illegitimate. The takeover came amid the uncertainty that followed Ukraine's Revolution of Dignity, and it marked the beginning of the Russo-Ukrainian war.
Looking back, the bridge opening on 15 May 2018 stands as a physical link to territory whose annexation was later described as the first time since World War II that a European country had annexed part of another.
