The name “Crimean Bridge”, which is heard daily in the news, is misused. In fact, this bridge is called Kerch, and the Crimean Bridge has been located in Moscow for almost a century.
To the khan for blessing
The real Crimean Bridge is located in Moscow on the Garden Ring. Its length is slightly more than 0.5 km, and it was opened in 1938. The name is connected with history because there was a route of the Moscow boyars, who brought tribute to the Crimean Khan.
What stands over Kerch Bay?
The official name of the bridge put into operation by the Russian government after the annexation of Crimea is the Kerch Bridge or the Bridge over the Kerch Strait. It is called Crimean only for propaganda purposes in order to create the impression that Russia and Crimea are closely related.
The formation of associations through natural geographical objects is one of the Kremlin’s tools that works quite effectively.
Old plans
The British government was the first who wanted to build a bridge over the Kerch Strait back in 1870. The construction was supposed to be a link on a shorter route from England to India. However, the project was deemed too expensive for implementation.
Later, Nicholas II wanted to implement it, but he was prevented by the Russo-Japanese War, and then the First World War. The monarch believed that he could not spend such an amount of money from the treasury so as not to destroy the country’s economy.
Two dictators with the same intentions
But Hitler spared no money for the war. For him, there was never “too much” when it came to the possibility of advancing troops and capturing the so-called “living space”. That is why, by his order, the first suspension bridge was equipped here, which was beneficial for supplying the 14 divisions of the Wehrmacht Army.
The strategic importance of this crossing was extraordinary, so it was planned to quickly build a more reliable structure for transferring heavy equipment in the near future. The project was even started, but the counterattack of the Soviet troops prevented it.
Putin became the second dictator for whom there is no such thing as “too much” investment when it comes to the possibility of seizing foreign lands. By his order, the Kerch Bridge was built, the longest bridge in the Russian Federation. The costs at the time of the opening of the first stage alone exceeded 4 billion dollars. In such a way, almost 70 years later, Putin implemented Hitler’s plan.
After the full-scale attack on Ukraine, this route became critical for providing armies in the south of Ukraine. That is why from the first days of the war it is such an important object that it will almost certainly suffer the fate of its younger brother from the time of the Second World War.
