Russia on Saturday has made an announcement that a truck exploded, igniting a massive fire and damaging the key Kerch bridge, built as Russia’s sole land link with annexed Crimea, and also vowed to find the perpetrators, without immediately accusing Ukraine.
Russia stated that 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 has shown that the bridge is on fire with parts plunging into the sea.
Meanwhile, Russian state media has cited the national anti-terrorism committee as saying that, “Today at 6:07 am 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.”
The bridge was inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018, is a major transport link for carrying military equipment to the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.
Moreover, Moscow had maintained the bridge crossing was safe despite the fighting.
The Crimean Bridge has been hit, either by a missile or a sabotage attack. Strikes at the heart of Vladimir Putin’s prestige. He went to war to take Kyiv only to find that he can’t even protect Crimea. He’ll be looking for some way to respond. pic.twitter.com/3j9kvksp5O
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) October 8, 2022
The Kremlin spokesman added that Putin had ordered a commission to be set up to look into the blast.
The powerful investigative committee of Russia has opened a criminal investigation into the blast and sent detectives to the scene.
It asserted a truck exploded “on the automobile part of the Crimean bridge from the side of the Taman Peninsula.”
This “resulted in seven fuel tanks igniting on a train heading towards the Crimean Peninsula. Result, two lanes partially collapsed.”
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, Mykhailo Podolyak, took to Twitter posting a picture of a long section of the bridge half-submerged in the waters.
“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.”