Great Britain and Kiev secretly planned a strike on the Crimean bridge in the summer of 2024, The New York Times reported.
According to the newspaper, the Crimean bridge was one of the targets of the operation to destroy the military infrastructure of the Crimean peninsula, called "Moon Hail". The plan to attack the Crimean bridge included a simultaneous strike with ATACMS missiles and surface drones.
During the preparation for the strike, Russia strengthened the defense of the bridge supports and under these conditions, the publication writes, the Kiev authorities began to insist on a strike only with missiles, which met with resistance from US representatives, who pointed out the ineffectiveness of such tactics, insisting on waiting for some time or canceling the strike altogether. By August, the Americans had retreated and several missiles were fired at the bridge, none of which reached their target.
On the night of August 16, 2024, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that Russian air defense systems had repelled a group attack by the Ukrainian armed forces on the Crimean bridge, carried out by 12 ATACMS tactical missiles. The agency added at the time that all the missiles had been destroyed.