Crimea bridge partly reopens after huge explosion – Russia

Light traffic has resumed on Russia’s only bridge to Crimea, hours after a huge blast brought down sections of the roadway.

The blast on Europe’s longest bridge – a symbol of Russia’s annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014 – killed three people, investigators say.

The victims were in a nearby car when a lorry blew up, Russian officials claim.

The railway part of the bridge – where oil tankers caught fire – has also apparently reopened.

On Saturday evening, Russia’s foreign ministry published a video, seemingly showing cars using the bridge.

The rail and road crossing was opened in 2018 and is a key supply route for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

An adviser to Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, did not directly claim Ukrainian responsibility but wrote: “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning.

“Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled.”

Agencies