Not until World War II and the German invasion of the Soviet Union was the idea of a fixed link across the Kerch Strait taken up again.

[4] Following the outbreak of German–Soviet hostilities in 1941, construction of a fixed link across the strait gained new importance, to ensure stable supply for the military units of both combatants.

On 7 March 1943 Hitler ordered construction of a combined road and railway bridge over the strait within six months, to push for the German invasion of the North Caucasus.

In September 1943, before the bridge was completed, concentrated Soviet attacks began on the Kuban bridgehead, accelerating the German retreat.

[4] By the time Kerch was liberated, the engineering design was underway and general construction had begun on the eastern adjacent roads and on the causeway on the Caucasus shore.

[4] The movable spans were of a swing bridge design, rotating horizontally over two adjacent navigable shipping lanes in the strait.

[6] By that time only structures dedicated for the first stage were created, while to ensure protection of the bridge from storms and ice flows there was still much work to do.

[4] Severely worsened weather conditions in December 1944, and more frequent winter storms, prevented completion of construction, and also began to inflict damage on the fixed link itself.

[6] In February 1945 drift ice, propelled by a northeastern wind from the Sea of Azov towards the incomplete bridge, inflicted fatal damage, with only five protective starkwaters ready by that time.

Much of this stemmed from the project being rushed, and the design being based on the reuse of equipment and material that the Germans left from their incomplete bridge.

[4] On 31 May 1945, the State Defense Committee deemed repair of the destroyed bridge unfeasible,[11] and it was decided to dismantle the remnants.