NEWS : Big explosion on Russia's Crimea Bridge

 

Ukraine: Big fire on Putin's mega bridge - section has collapsed 

Of: 

 

Jacob Ruderstam 

 

Published: Today 06.40 

 

Updated: Less than 2 hours ago 

 

NEWS 

 

Parts of the Krim Bridge have collapsed. 

 

Seven fuel tanks on a train reportedly caught fire after a large explosion. 

 

"Everything illegal must be destroyed," Volodymyr Zelenskyi's advisor writes on Twitter. 

 

On Saturday morning, all traffic over the Crimean Bridge, which Vladimir Putin inaugurated four years after annexing the Crimean Peninsula in 2014, was halted, Russian state news agency RIA reported. 

 

Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the head of Crimea, claims on Telegram that a fuel tank must have caught fire on the bridge. 

 

One of the bridge's sections collapsed after the explosion, reports BNO News. 

 

"It is too early to talk about causes and consequences. The work to put out the fire is ongoing," writes Kryuchkov on Telegram. Later in the morning, the Russian anti-terrorist agency announced that the fire must have started after a truck exploded on the road. 

 

A total of seven fuel tanks on a railway train heading towards Crimea have started to burn, according to RIA.

 

          Photo: TASS / SipaUSA 

 

        

 

The fire broke out on the bridge between the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula and the Russian mainland. Photo: Alyona Popova / ITAR-TASS 

 

Putin's response 

 

No one is said to have been injured in connection with the fire. 

 

After the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a government commission to determine the causes and investigate the consequences. 

 

The heads of the Krasnodar region and Crimea, respectively, will participate in the commission along with law enforcement agencies. 

 

Michajlo Podoljak, President Zelenky's advisor. Photo: Nicolae Dumitrache / AP 

The head of the parliament on the Crimean peninsula, Vladimir Konstantinov, claims that Ukraine is behind an attack. 

 

Later, Michajlo Podoljak, President Volodymyr Zelensky's adviser, wrote on Twitter that the explosion in Crimea is "the beginning." 

 

"Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything that has been stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything that is occupied by Russia," he writes. 

 

The Crimean Bridge measures 19 kilometers. The construction project is said to have cost 228 billion rubles (approximately SEK 30 billion). 

 

The bridge stretches from the Russian city of Krasnodar to the city of Kerch on the Crimean Peninsula.

 

 

Putin rides a train over the bridge in connection with the inauguration. Photo: Alexei Nikolsky/AP