The explosion occurred the day after the 70th birthday of Russian President Vladimir Putin and one week after the announcement of the annexation of four Ukrainian regions by Russia.

[8] The Russian authorities called the construction of the Crimean Bridge an "historic mission", one of the key tasks for the "final unification of Crimea with Russia".

[12] While other methods of supplying resources to Crimea exist, including ports, the Crimean Bridge is an important part of the infrastructure.

[16][17] In April 2022, Dmitry Medvedev, former President and Deputy Chairman of the Security Council of Russia, said: "One of the Ukrainian generals talked about the need to strike at the Crimean Bridge.

"[13] In August 2022, Ukrainian presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak told The Guardian: "It's an illegal construction and the main gateway to supply the Russian army in Crimea.

According to the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee, a truck was blown up, which caused seven rail fuel containers to catch fire.

[19] No responsibility was claimed for the explosion, but the Ukrainian media Ukrainska Pravda and UNIAN, citing their own sources, stated that it was a Security Service of Ukraine operation.

[28][29] The New York Times described a "senior Ukrainian official" as saying that "Ukraine’s intelligence services had orchestrated the attack and that it involved a bomb loaded onto a truck that drove across the bridge".

[31] With the closure of the bridge, it became more difficult for local residents to leave Crimea, with car queues 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) long,[24] although other ways remained, including ports.

[40] On 9 November 2022, the UK Ministry of Defence released an intelligence update, saying: "Russian efforts to repair the Crimean bridge continue but it is unlikely to be fully operational until at least September 2023."

"Although Crimean officials have claimed these additional spans will be in place by 20 December, a briefing provided to President Putin added that works to the other carriageway would cause disruption to road traffic until March 2023.

[46] Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said during his nightly address: "Today was not a bad day and mostly sunny on our state's territory.

[23] A Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation spokeswoman accused the "Kyiv regime" of terrorism, and a deputy of the State Duma, Andrey Gurulyov (United Russia), called for a strong response.

[47] Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian appointed head of Crimea, expressed a desire for revenge, and spoke of about the food and fuel, noting that "the situation is manageable—it's unpleasant, but not fatal".

"[48] Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov urged retaliatory strikes across all Ukraine targeting "bridges, dams, railways, thermal power plants and other infrastructure facilities".

[50][51] A Polish member of the European Parliament, Robert Biedroń (New Left) described the attack as "a balm for the heart, especially since yesterday was Putin's birthday.

"[51][52] The Ministry of Transport of Russia announced that the ferry service across the Kerch Strait, which operated before the construction of the Crimean bridge, was being re-launched.

[23] The Crimean Bridge is an important part of the transport connection between Russia and Crimea for the southern theater of operations of the Russo-Ukrainian War.

The greatest blow might be psychological, according to people comparing it to the sinking of the Russian cruiser Moskva and considering Putin's personal links to the bridge.

[63][64] In May 2023, former history teacher Nikita Tushkanov was sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison under Russia's 2022 war censorship laws on charges of "justifying terrorism" and "discrediting" the Russian military for calling the Crimean Bridge explosion "a birthday gift for Putler.

[66] Representatives of the special services drew attention to the shift that failed to detect the truck loaded with explosives, despite the procedures at the entrance to the bridge designed to watch for suspicious cargo.

[67] The National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia reported:[27] At 06:07 Moscow time today [03:07 GMT], an explosion was set off at a cargo vehicle on the motorway part of the Crimean bridge on the side of the Taman peninsula, which set fire to seven fuel tanks of a train that was en route to the Crimean peninsula.

Two motorway sections of the bridge partially collapsed.On 10 October, the Russian chief investigator, Alexander Bastrykin, reported that the route of the truck had been established.

[69] On 21 April 2023, the Lefortovo District court in Moscow issued an arrest warrant against Kyrylo Budanov, head of Ukrainian Intelligence, in relation to the October 2022 bridge explosion.