An explosion on Saturday at a strategic bridge connecting Russia and Crimea, which includes a road and a train track, collapsed parts of the road and diverted traffic in one direction, while Ukrainian authorities sent messages after the incident. They published humor, but without direct announcement. for responsibility
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the 19-kilometer bridge connecting it to Russia’s transportation network four years later in a grand celebration.
The bridge is now an important supply route for Russian forces who have taken control of most of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine.
Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced on social media that the explosion occurred at 06:07 a.m. local time (03:07 GMT) in a transport truck and destroyed seven cars carrying fuel on a train bound for Syria. The island burned.
He added: Two parts of the land bridge have partially collapsed, but the waterway passing through the Kerch Strait, through which ships travel between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, was not damaged.
Russian Crimean Governor Sergei Aksyonov said on social media that the land bridge in one direction was still intact, but traffic was stopped while the damage was assessed.
Later, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported that the fire had been extinguished, citing the Ministry of Emergencies.
Mykhailo Podoliak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, posted a message on Twitter saying the incident was just “the beginning,” but did not say Ukrainian forces were responsible for the explosion.
He added: “Everything that is illegal must be destroyed, everything that was stolen must be returned to Ukraine, and Russians must be expelled from every occupied (territory).”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin had ordered the government to set up a state commission to investigate the incident, TASS news agency reported.
The Interfax news agency quoted Vladimir Konstantinov, the speaker of the Crimean parliament, as saying: Ukrainian saboteurs managed to reach the Crimean bridge with their bloody hands.
“Now they have something to be proud of… During their 23 years of economic activity, they built nothing noteworthy in Crimea, but (now) they managed to damage the Russian bridge road,” he added.
Konstantinov said the damage was not “serious” and would be repaired quickly.
Oleksiy Danilov, head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, released a video of the burning bridge along with a video of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President,” in reference to Putin’s 70th birthday on Friday.
Source: Lebanon Debate
