According to Chinese customs, a 70-year-old man is respected as "the age of seventy, hanging a car, and surrounded by a cane", which means that the old man is at the age of retirement and retirement and resting on a guard. However, for Russian President Putin , who just celebrated his 70th birthday, not only did he not enjoy this family happiness, but he ushered in the biggest crisis in his more than 20 years of power.
At the end of September, the Nord Stream pipeline that Russia transported natural gas to Europe was man-made damage, which not only led to a large amount of valuable natural gas leaks, but also made Russia unable to transport natural gas to Europe normally. The decoupling of energy between Europe and Russia seems to be imperative. However, "the blessings come unparalleled, and disasters never come in singularity". Just when the real culprit behind the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline is still at large, Russia's important Crimea Bridge was also destroyed!
On the early morning of October 8, accompanied by the explosion of the Crimea Bridge, Russia was shocked! Judging from the photos released on the scene, the railway and highway parts of the Crimea Bridge were damaged, and a section of the highway bridge had even fallen into the sea.
There are many different opinions on the cause of the explosion of the Kerch Bridge. Russian News Agency claims that the Crimea Bridge was attacked by the missile ; there are also reports that it was caused by the fire and explosion of a fuel-loaded train tanker; and the media released videos of the explosion of the Crimea Bridge, believing that someone deliberately drove a truck loading with explosives to attack the bridge.
Russian President's Press Secretary Peskov said: Putin has ordered the establishment of a government committee to thoroughly investigate the matter and eliminate future troubles as soon as possible. Russian Minister of Emergency Situation Kulenkov has arrived at the scene of the accident, and the cause of the accident may soon be revealed.
and Russian State Duma parliamentarian Oleg Molozov even threatened: 's attack on the Crimean Bridge is no longer a provocation, but a "declaration of war without rules"! Russian House of Lords Bashkin threatened the mastermind behind the scenes: he did not suspect that the relevant Russian departments would adopt clear or asymmetric counterattack methods.
It can be seen that the Russian government's reaction this time is much more intense than the Nord Stream pipeline after it was destroyed, and the official even concluded that it was an act of "declaration of war". . As for the reason, although the economic losses caused by the Crimea Bridge explosion are not as serious as those of the Nord Stream Pipeline incident, the strategic and political impacts brought are far higher than those of the Nord Stream Pipeline incident. If Putin does not handle it well, it may even damage his prestige in Russia, making people wonder whether Putin is "old".
First of all, the Crimea Bridge is the largest and most expensive dual-purpose bridge built by Russia. It is the only land channel connecting Crimea in Russia. The bridge is about 19 kilometers long and is designed with 4 road driving lines and 2 railway lines. It can carry 40,000 cars at the same time and can accommodate 47 trains every day.
Since Russia adopted Crimean Peninsula as its territory in 2014, it has attached great importance to the construction of the bridge. After the completion of the Crimea Bridge, Russia will be able to continuously transport materials and troops to the Crimean Peninsula, making the Ukrainian army afraid to attack Crimea easily.
On the contrary, once the Crimean Bridge is destroyed, the Crimean Peninsula will become an isolated island. The Russian army must reserve a large amount of troops and supplies on the island in advance, which will greatly affect the Russian army's deployment on the Ukrainian battlefield.
And after the Crimea Bridge is completed, Russia is equivalent to having the key to control Kerch Strait . Any ship must enter Azov Sea through the Kerch Strait under Russian surveillance. Russia is equivalent to turning the Azov Sea into its own inland sea. In order to protect the Crimea Bridge, Russia made targeted deployments after the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and installed smoke generators and radar deception equipment on the Crimea Bridge, which shows how much Russia attaches importance to the safety of the Crimea Bridge.
In terms of politics, Russia has repeatedly warned Ukraine: If dares to blow up the Crimea Bridge, Russia will regard it as a military strike in its homeland and will consider using nuclear weapon for retaliation. However, the Crimea Bridge has been destroyed. Although the Russian side has not yet found out the real murderer behind the scenes, considering that the attack on the bridge occurred on the second day of Putin's birthday, the outside world speculated that it was a "birthday gift" given by Ukraine. Now the whole world is paying attention to how Russia will counter, and the pressure has come to Putin's side.
And Ukraine was fearless, Ukrainian National Security and National Defense Commission Secretary Dalonif posted a message on his personal social platform to provoke Putin: Good morning, Ukraine! And uploaded the explosion of the Crimea Bridge and the greetings of American movie star Monroe to Kennedy : Happy birthday, Mr. President. It is obvious that Ukraine wants to use this matter to "congratulate Putin's birthday."
And the Ukrainian Pravda revealed the "big melon" on October 8: was the Ukrainian National Security Bureau planned the operation to blow up the Crimean Bridge!
In short, Russia is in a very uncomfortable situation in this matter. The whole world knows that Ukraine is the most suspicious. However, without the Ukrainian government admits it, Russia does not dare to retaliate against Ukraine, and it is even more impossible to use nuclear weapons to strike Ukraine. Otherwise, it is very likely that NATO will personally intervene in the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and Russia will face a situation of never stopping with the West.
If Putin left this matter alone, it would be slapped in the face in front of the whole world, and the entire West would also sneer at Russia's future " nuclear threat ". The main reason why Putin dared to take special military actions against Ukraine is that Russia has "two aces": energy and nuclear weapons. After the Nord Stream pipeline was destroyed, Russia's "energy card" was no longer effective for Europe. If the ace of "nuclear weapon" also fails, Russia's future situation can be imagined.
From the assassination of Du Jin's daughter, to the destruction of the Nord Stream pipeline, to the current explosion of the Crimea Bridge, all of which indicate that the opponent is targeting Russia by breaking the moral lower limit. When the opponent's attack on civilians and civilian facilities evolves into the norm, it is difficult to ensure that Russia will continue to endure. The Russian-Ukrainian conflict may evolve into a full-scale war between the two sides by any means. If you are not careful, you will implicate other countries and eventually evolve into a new world war. For Putin, who has just celebrated his 70th birthday, the real consideration has just begun!
