‘CRIMEA… THE BEGINNING’: BRIDGE BETWEEN CRIMEA AND RUSSIA COLLAPSES AFTER HUGE EXPLOSION (VIDEO)

Sat 08 October 2022:

The Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea – a hated symbol of the Kremlin’s occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsular – has been hit by a massive explosion on the span that carries railway traffic.

The Kerch Bridge — a pair of parallel bridges, one road and one railroad — is a key supply route for Russia which was built after Crimea’s annexation in 2014. Footage and images, widely shared on social media, show that a road section collapsed and train carriages were burning on the bridge, which is the longest in Europe.

A huge explosion was heard before the massive fire broke out, according to eye-witnesses and video footage.

Train services to Crimea were temporarily suspended in the aftermath of the explosion and ticket sales were paused, according to the Russian Railways.

Authorities also cancelled bus trips from Crimea.

Moscow announced Saturday that a truck exploded igniting a huge fire and damaging the key Kerch bridge — built as Russia‘s sole land link with annexed Crimea — and vowed to find the perpetrators, without immediately blaming Ukraine.

Russia said the blast set ablaze seven oil tankers by transported by train and collapsed two car lanes of the giant road and rail structure.

Dramatic social media footage showed the bridge on fire with parts plunging into the sea.

“Today at 6:07 am (0307 GMT) on the road traffic side of the Crimean bridge … a car bomb exploded, setting fire to seven oil tankers being carried by rail to Crimea,” Russian news agencies cited the national anti-terrorism committee as saying.

The bridge, personally inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018, is a vital transport link for carrying military equipment to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

While officials in Moscow stopped short of blaming Kyiv, an official in Russian-installed Crimea pointed the finger at “Ukrainian vandals”.

The head of the office of Ukraine’s presidency, Andrii Podolyak, took to Twitter posting a picture of a long section of the bridge half-submerged in the waters.

‘CRIMEA… THE BEGINNING’

“Crimea, the bridge, the beginning,” he wrote.

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

There have been several explosions at Russian military installations in the Crimean peninsula and if it is established that Ukraine was behind the latest blast, alarm bells may sound with the bridge so far from the front line.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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