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Danish Ekstra Bladet writes:

Explosives expert guesses missile caused Crimean bridge explosion
Hundreds of kilos of explosives and either a ship, truck or missile used for blast, chemist says

Flames are rising from the Crimean bridge, which is strategically important for the Russians, and parts of the bridge have collapsed into the sea.

It would have taken a very violent explosion to cause the destruction, and it could have been done in one of three ways, says Peter Hald, head of security at Aarhus University. He is a trained chemist and engineering officer.

- It's a huge explosion. It's a fireball wider than a four-lane motorway, so it's many hundreds of kilos of explosives that have been used, he says.

- It could have been delivered by a boat, by a truck or by a larger missile. That's one of the three ways it's realistic to have brought that much explosive forward, he says.

After reviewing images of the explosion on the bridge, Peter Hald's best guess is that a missile was used to detonate it.

There is not a line in the air in any of the pictures he has seen to indicate that it was a missile. But there are 'an incredible number of white sparks' in the air after the bombing, which the chemist says could be fuel residue.

In videos where the speed is drastically reduced, Peter Hald says it can look as if there is a light coming from the water side towards the bridge and then an explosion. But it's very uncertain.

Russia's anti-terror authorities, on the other hand, have said it happened when a car bomb exploded, igniting up to seven tankers taking trains to Crimea.

And that is plausible, judging by the size of the explosion, the engineer officer says.

- Where it's less plausible is that the Russians know it's an important bridge, and they've presumably taken good care of it.

- So either it is the most comfortable explanation, or the - for the Russians - unpleasant explanation is that their security of the bridge has failed completely, says Peter Hald.

He estimates that it is not at all easy to blow up a bridge like this. It is very large and probably solidly built.

- Therefore, it would take many hundreds of kilograms or even tons to damage it, says Peter Hald.

It is not unusual for ballistic missiles to have warheads with hundreds of kilograms of explosives. And according to Peter Hald, there are also missiles with several tonnes of explosives.

Crimea is a Ukrainian peninsula that has been annexed by Russia since 2014.

The peninsula and its 19-kilometre bridge are important to Russia in getting supplies such as ammunition and fuel to its warring forces in southern Ukraine.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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