An explosion on the Kerch bridge that connects the Russian-occupied Ukrainian peninsula Crimea with Russia has caused a massive blow to Putin's attack on Ukraine. The bridge, which was opened by Putin in 2018, is crucial for the transportation of both Russian military supplies as well as daily necessities for Crimea itself.
As of Saturday morning, no exact cause for the explosion has been given but "Russian officials said a truck exploded, causing Crimea-bound sections of the road part of the bridge to collapse," according to CNN.
Russian state media TASS has declared that Putin has ordered a "government commission" to look into the explosion to determine if it was caused by "Ukrainian vandals," as suspected by an official in Crimea sourced by CNN.
"The reaction of the Kyiv regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure testifies to its terrorist nature," says Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova.
In describing the damage to the bridge, which by all accounts seems to be severe, Sergey Aksenov, the Russian-appointed Head of Crimea says "two spans of the roadbed of the part [of the bridge] from Krasnodar to Kerch, collapsed. As soon as the fire is extinguished, it will be possible to assess the extent of damage to the bridge and pillars, and it will be possible to talk about the timing of the restoration of traffic."
According to Russia's Investigative Committee, it appears as though at least three people were killed as a result of the explosion who were "presumably the passengers of a car that was next to the blown-up truck."
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"Ukrainian vandals somehow managed to get their bloody paws on the Crimean bridge," says Vladimir Konstantinov, Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea. "And now they have something to be proud of, in 23 years of their economic activity, they did not manage to build anything deserving of interest in Crimea. But they did succeed in damaging the roadbed of the Russian bridge . . . Such is the whole essence of the Kiev regime and the Ukrainian state … Of course, the causes of the accident will be investigated, and the damage will be repaired swiftly," he added in his statement to CNN.
"Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," the Adviser to the Head of the Office of President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Twitter, along with a photo of the collapsed bridge in flames.
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