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Talk about unwanted gifts.

On Oct. 7, Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70th birthday.

A day later, images emerged on social media of the bridge across the Kerch Strait, linking the Crimean peninsula to Russia, on fire.

Certain sections of the bridge have also reportedly sunk into the sea, making travel across the bridge almost impossible.

Citing Russian media, The Guardian reported that the bridge has collapsed.

The BBC reported that both road and rail traffic across the bridge has been suspended, and authorities in occupied Crimea have announced they will establish a ferry service between Crimea and Russia.

Good morning
Fire on the Kerch bridge in the Kerch Strait, Crimea, Ukraine
8 October 2022
Photographs: @KyivPost pic.twitter.com/LO6krKkLI0

— Mikhail Khodorkovsky (@khodorkovsky_en) October 8, 2022

How was it done?

CNBC cited Russian media as saying that a truck exploded on the road side of the bridge, leading to the collapse.

The blaze then led to seven oil tankers on the rail side of the bridge catching fire, causing damage there.

Where is Kerch bridge?

Kerch lies on the eastern point of the Crimean Peninsula, which was forcibly annexed by Russia from Ukraine back in 2014.

A bridge links Kerch, and therefore Crimea, to Russia.

The Sea of Azov lies to the north, while the Black Sea lies to the south.

Symbolic value

Putin himself drove a truck across Kerch bridge upon its completion in May 2018.

He said it had been a Russian "dream" even in previous eras, and called it a "miracle".

Russian media described it as the "construction of the century", a clear physical symbol of the Russian occupation of Crimea.

Now it appears to have sustained heavy damage, a day after Putin's birthday and barely a week after Putin announced the illegal  annexation of four Ukrainian provinces.

The bridge is an engineering feat – the Wehrmacht and the Red Army tried and failed to connect Crimea to the Russian mainland – and the key symbol of Russia's control over the annexed peninsula.

Now it looks like this. Two road spans collapsed and the railroad bridge is damaged. pic.twitter.com/cD9hYOSuPv

— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 8, 2022

Strategic as well as symbolic significance

During the Russian invasion, the Ukrainians have demonstrated a knack for accomplishing symbolic goals that also carried tactical or even strategic importance.

For example, the sinking of the Moskva, the flagship of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, was the biggest ship sunk in action since World War 2.

While the Moskva was the symbol of Russian naval pride in the Black Sea, it also would have taken a lead role in a potential amphibious assault of the Ukrainian city of Odesa, and shelled it with missile strikes.

Sinking the Moskva therefore removed that threat.

Similarly, the Ukrainians recently retook Snake Island, the site of one of the most infamous incidents of the early war.

Not only was it a morale boost, it also provided Ukraine greater control over its southern waters, with greater oversight of Ukrainian grain shipments for export.

Significance of Kerch bridge

The incident on Kerch bridge looks like another such strike, if it was indeed the Ukrainians who pulled it off.

Not only does it represent a loss of face for Putin, the bridge's road and rail links were an important avenue for Russia to send supplies and war material into Crimea, and by extension, the occupied southern regions of Ukraine, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The loss of the bridge will make it harder for Russia to resupply its forces in the south, which have come under intense pressure as the Ukrainians advance.

According to retired Australian general Mick Ryan, it also puts pressure on the Russians currently occupying Crimea, who will find it harder to move back into Russia.

He also said it was a rebuke to the Kremlin's recent proclaimed annexation of Ukrainian territory.

7/ A third and final point: this is a massive influence operation win for Ukraine. Even if they didn’t do it, it is a demonstration to Russians, and the rest of the world, that Russia’s military cannot protect any of the provinces it recently annexed.

— Mick Ryan, AM (@WarintheFuture) October 8, 2022

The Ukrainians have stopped short of claiming responsibility for the strike, but the Ukrainian government's official Twitter account appeared to reference Kerch bridge.

The tweet simply read, "sick burn".

sick burn

— Ukraine / Україна (@Ukraine) October 8, 2022

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Top image from Kyiv Post on Twitter.