Russia halts traffic on Crimea bridge after reports of explosion

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Moscow-based authorities in Crimea have halted traffic on a bridge linking the occupied peninsula to Russia after reports of an explosion that caused parts of it to collapse, killing two people early Monday.

If confirmed to be a second Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge, which was opened to great fanfare by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, it would be another humiliating blow to the Kremlin’s prestige, and possibly annexation of Ukraine’s southern regions Also for the ability to supply the troops.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea, said the bridge, which carries road and rail traffic, was closed due to an “emergency”.

Viacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, said a man and a woman in the area were killed in the blast. Their 14-year-old daughter was in the hospital in stable condition.

Mash, an online news outlet with close ties to Russia’s police, posted video showing one part of the bridge collapsing and another beginning to sink into the waters of the Kerch Strait below.

It said investigators had found traces of jet skis near the blast site and claimed Ukraine had begun using them as underwater drones carrying explosives.

Russian officials did not say how badly the bridge was damaged, but claimed the blast did not damage railway tracks and promised that traffic would resume soon.

On the social media app Telegram, several videos showed the explosion before sunrise, while others showed smoke billowing from the bridge, a crushed vehicle and cars parked several kilometers behind.

Ukrainian authorities did not claim responsibility for the blast. But several top officials and Ukraine’s security service praised it on social media, while Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reiterated Kiev’s position that the bridge was a legitimate military target.

“Any illegal structure used to deliver Russian instruments of mass murder is necessarily short-lived. , , regardless of the reasons for the destruction,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

Andrey Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence, declined to comment when asked by Ukraine’s public broadcaster Saspilne whether Kiev was behind the attack. But he said that this could hinder Russian logistics.

Yusov said, “Any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers, creating a potential advantage for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.”

The bridge is a vital link between Russia and the occupied Ukrainian territories and is used to transport troops, tanks and other military supplies for the Kremlin’s assault forces fighting in southern Ukraine.

The only other supply route is through the so-called “land bridge” that Moscow built by invading and capturing the southern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, which Putin claimed to have “captured” in September.

But that route is narrow and full of challenges, as Ukrainian brigades focus their counterattack on trying to cut the land bridge.

Russian holidaymakers continue to flock to Crimea, a popular holiday destination, even as the peninsula has become the target of air and drone attacks during the war.

The occupation authorities urged people to drive across the “land bridge” and insisted that the peninsula had sufficient supplies of food and fuel.

The 12-mile bridge over the Kerch Strait was a special project of Putin’s. Built for $3 billion following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, it was completed in 2018, with Putin marking the occasion by driving a KamAZ truck over the bridge.

Get free updates from the war in Ukraine

we will send you one myFT Daily Digest Latest Email Rounding war in ukraine News every morning.

Moscow-based authorities in Crimea have halted traffic on a bridge linking the occupied peninsula to Russia after reports of an explosion that caused parts of it to collapse, killing two people early Monday.

If confirmed to be a second Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge, which was opened to great fanfare by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018, it would be another humiliating blow to the Kremlin’s prestige, and possibly annexation of Ukraine’s southern regions Also for the ability to supply the troops.

Sergei Aksyonov, the Russia-appointed head of Crimea, said the bridge, which carries road and rail traffic, was closed due to an “emergency”.

Viacheslav Gladkov, the governor of Russia’s Belgorod region bordering Ukraine, said a man and a woman in the area were killed in the blast. Their 14-year-old daughter was in the hospital in stable condition.

Mash, an online news outlet with close ties to Russia’s police, posted video showing one part of the bridge collapsing and another beginning to sink into the waters of the Kerch Strait below.

It said investigators had found traces of jet skis near the blast site and claimed Ukraine had begun using them as underwater drones carrying explosives.

Russian officials did not say how badly the bridge was damaged, but claimed the blast did not damage railway tracks and promised that traffic would resume soon.

On the social media app Telegram, several videos showed the explosion before sunrise, while others showed smoke billowing from the bridge, a crushed vehicle and cars parked several kilometers behind.

Ukrainian authorities did not claim responsibility for the blast. But several top officials and Ukraine’s security service praised it on social media, while Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reiterated Kiev’s position that the bridge was a legitimate military target.

“Any illegal structure used to deliver Russian instruments of mass murder is necessarily short-lived. , , regardless of the reasons for the destruction,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.

Andrey Yusov, a representative of Ukraine’s defense intelligence, declined to comment when asked by Ukraine’s public broadcaster Saspilne whether Kiev was behind the attack. But he said that this could hinder Russian logistics.

Yusov said, “Any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers, creating a potential advantage for the Ukrainian Defense Forces.”

The bridge is a vital link between Russia and the occupied Ukrainian territories and is used to transport troops, tanks and other military supplies for the Kremlin’s assault forces fighting in southern Ukraine.

The only other supply route is through the so-called “land bridge” that Moscow built by invading and capturing the southern Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson, which Putin claimed to have “captured” in September.

But that route is narrow and full of challenges, as Ukrainian brigades focus their counterattack on trying to cut the land bridge.

Russian holidaymakers continue to flock to Crimea, a popular holiday destination, even as the peninsula has become the target of air and drone attacks during the war.

The occupation authorities urged people to drive across the “land bridge” and insisted that the peninsula had sufficient supplies of food and fuel.

The 12-mile bridge over the Kerch Strait was a special project of Putin’s. Built for $3 billion following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, it was completed in 2018, with Putin marking the occasion by driving a KamAZ truck over the bridge.