Over a thousand cars are waiting to cross the Crimean Bridge.

Traffic jams formed again this afternoon on the approaches to the Crimean Bridge from the Kerch and Taman directions, with the wait time for security exceeding two hours.

As reported by the "Caucasian Knot," by 4:00 PM Moscow time on January 3, 950 cars were in line in front of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman direction and 607 cars from the Kerch direction. By 7:00 AM Moscow time today, all the queues had been eliminated.

The number of vehicles awaiting inspection at the approaches to the Crimean Bridge increased this afternoon: as of 4:00 PM Moscow time, 330 vehicles were waiting to pass from Taman; by 5:00 PM Moscow time, that number had reached 450. On the Kerch side, there were 598 vehicles in line for manual inspection at 4:00 PM Moscow time, and 650 at 5:00 PM Moscow time, according to data from the "Crimean Bridge: Operational Information" Telegram channel.

By 6:00 PM Moscow time, the number of vehicles in line had decreased slightly—to 440 from Taman and 618 from Kerch. By 19:00 Moscow time, the number of cars in the queue from the Taman side had decreased to 425, from the Kerch side - to 610. The waiting time, according to official data, is about two hours or more.

“From Taman to Crimea, manual inspection takes 2.5 hours, and the scanner takes 5+ hours. From Crimea (Kerch), manual inspection takes 3 hours, and the scanner takes 4-5 hours. If necessary, it's worth stopping at the gas station before the bridge (fuel, water, restrooms, food). All inspection points on both sides are open. Tourist traffic is twice as high as last year, and there was also an emergency power outage (for an hour) at the inspection points from Taman,” reported the administrator of the “Crimean Bridge Chat” community at 6:00 PM Moscow time.

“We made it through! Oh my god, what a traffic jam coming from Crimea. Hang in there,” wrote user Irina at 6:25 PM Moscow time.

As a reminder, electric and hybrid vehicles have been banned from using the Crimean Bridge since November 3. An alternative land route has been proposed for them, along the coast of the Sea of Azov, from Taganrog to Dzhankoy. Authorities cited safety concerns for the decision. That same day, the first 18 fines were issued to electric vehicle drivers who attempted to cross the bridge despite the ban.

On August 18, 2025, security forces discovered an explosive device in a car arriving from Georgia. According to the FSB, the vehicle was destined for the Krasnodar Territory and was planned to be used to detonate the Crimean Bridge.

On July 17, 2023, the Crimean Bridge was attacked by Ukrainian drones, destroying one span and damaging another. The bridge was only restored to traffic on November 1 of that year.

On October 8, 2022, an explosion occurred on the Crimean Bridge, collapsing two spans. Traffic on the bridge was restored to traffic a month later. Vladimir Putin called the incident a terrorist attack, and the FSB stated that the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense was the organizer.

The verdict of the defendants in the Crimean Bridge terrorist attack case has been appealed

Human rights activists have recognized all eight defendants in the Crimean Bridge bombing case as political prisoners. According to human rights activists, they are all random people, and the real organizers and perpetrators are inaccessible to Russian security forces. On November 27, 2025, the court sentenced the defendants to life imprisonment.