A powerful blast damaged Russia's road-and-rail bridge to Crimea

2022-10-09

KYIV, Oct 8 (Reuters) - A powerful blast damaged Russia's road-and-rail bridge to Crimea on Saturday, hitting a prestigious symbol of Moscow's annexation of the peninsula and the key supply route to forces battling to hold territory captured in southern Ukraine.

The early morning explosion on the bridge over the Kerch Strait, for which Russia did not immediately assign blame, prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials but no claim of responsibility.

President Vladimir Putin signed a decree instructing tighter security for the bridge as well as the infrastructure supplying electricity and natural gas to the peninsula.

He also ordered a commission be set up to investigate.

Russian officials said three people had been killed, probably the occupants of a car travelling near a truck that blew up. Seven fuel tanker wagons on a 59-wagon train heading for the peninsula on the bridge's upper level also caught fire.

Source : Reporting by Reuters Editing by Frances Kerry, David Ljunggren and Alistair Bell