Nichita Gurcov
On 3 June 2025, an underwater explosion occurred near one of the pillars of the Crimean bridge. It was Ukraine’s third attempt to disable the bridge, which has become a symbol of Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine since 2014. The most striking of the three was the detonation of explosives smuggled in a truck driving across the bridge in October 2022. Russia repaired the damaged sections of the bridge by mid-2023, but shortly afterward, Ukrainian naval drones attacked it again, rendering it only partially operational until October that year. The June explosion shut down the bridge for only a few hours. In contrast, the Russian destruction of the Kakhovka dam on the Dnieper river on 6 June 2023 remains one of the most significant sabotage operations in the Russia-Ukraine war — and possibly in modern history. The explosion led to the flooding of parts of the Kherson region and denied Ukrainian forces, who were preparing for a counter-offensive, access to the shortest route to the Crimean peninsula.
Most instances of sabotage in Russia and Ukraine do not grab headlines, however. Nor do they produce significant effects on either side’s war effort. Nevertheless, the sabotage campaigns waged by both countries are an important dimension of the shadow war occurring alongside the battle for Ukraine and the escalating air war.
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