Crimea bridge damaged by truck explosion, 2 motorway sections collapse
Moscow reveals that a truck was blown up on the motorway section of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula, causing seven fuel tanks of a train traveling to the Crimean peninsula to go up in flames.
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The Crimean bridge on fire after the explosion.
The Russian National Anti-Terrorist Committee has reported that a truck exploded on the Crimean Bridge earlier this morning:
"Today, at 6:07 am, a truck was blown up on the motorway section of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula, which caused seven fuel tanks of a train traveling to the Crimean peninsula to go up in flames. Two motorway sections of the bridge have partially collapsed. The arch over the land part of the bridge has not been damaged," the report says.
WATCH: The Crimean Bridge, which connects Russia and Crimea, is on fire and has partially collapsed pic.twitter.com/EGaGF0Eb25
— BNO News (@BNONews) October 8, 2022
Investigations into the explosion are underway.
"Ukrainian vandals managed to reach the Crimean Bridge with their bloody hands. They now have something to be proud of: for 23 years of their management, they failed to build anything worthy of attention in Crimea, but they managed to damage the canvas of the Russian bridge," said Vladimir Konstantinov, head of the Crimean parliament.
"This is the whole essence of the Kiev regime and the Ukrainian state. Death and destruction are the only things of which they are capable," Konstantinov wrote on his Telegram.
Additional footage pic.twitter.com/w5ngstLp5m
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 8, 2022
Preliminary reports wrote that what could be a fuel storage tank had caught fire on the Crimean Bridge. However, the viaduct's navigable arches sustained no damage, according to Oleg Kryuchkov, the head of Russian-controlled Crimea.
"According to preliminary information, a fuel storage tank is on fire <…>. Navigable arches were not damaged. It is too early to speak about causes and consequences. Work to extinguish the blaze is underway," Kryuchkov wrote in his Telegram channel.
Traffic on the bridge has been suspended due to the incident, according to a spokesperson for the Taman management of federal highways of Russia's Federal Road Agency to TASS.
"Traffic <…> has been temporarily suspended, personnel of the Russian emergencies ministry and the road service are working on the site to contain the blaze," she said.
In August, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelensky, stated that the country will return to "Russian-occupied Crimea" in whatever way it sees fit, without consulting with other countries, Ukrinform reported.
"We know what we are doing. We know where military facilities or warehouses are located in the temporarily occupied territories. The Ukrainian military can work there according to the plan," he added.
Commenting on whether Crimea can return to Ukraine's control politically and diplomatically or with military assistance, Zelensky stated: "We do not choose which way we will put an end to this issue."
Within this context, Washington approved Ukrainian strikes on Crimea using US-made weapons.
