According to Russian news agency Tass, an explosion occurred early Saturday morning on Europe’s longest bridge, which connects Russia and Crimea.
“An object believed to be a fuel storage tank has caught fire on the Crimean Bridge, but the viaduct’s navigable arches sustained no damage, an aide to the head of Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said on Saturday,” according to the news outlet.
“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.
BREAKING: Explosion Reportedly Destroys Part of Bridge Connecting Russia and Crimea
According to Telegraph, Russia’s investigative committee said it had “initiated a criminal case in connection with the incident on the Crimean bridge,” adding that “a truck was blown up.”
“Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee says a truck bomb caused seven railway cars carrying fuel to catch fire, resulting in a “partial collapse of two sections of the bridge.” The committee didn’t immediately apportion blame,” the outlet reported.
Here’s footage from the reported explosion:
BREAKING: Surveillance video shows massive explosion on the Crimean Bridge pic.twitter.com/jo3yZK3L0I
— BNO News (@BNONews) October 8, 2022
Closer look at the collapsed road span of the Crimean bridge pic.twitter.com/ZW1OOAKdns
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 8, 2022
Closer footage of the fire on the Crimean bridge pic.twitter.com/SoxDNbBUt4
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 8, 2022
Video of damage to the Crimean Bridge. https://t.co/roEjIKH19B pic.twitter.com/DwsS5O625g
— Rob Lee (@RALee85) October 8, 2022
Footage reportedly of the explosion that hit the Crimean Bridge pic.twitter.com/qQR6nhsb6B
— OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) October 8, 2022
Following the attack on Saturday, the Ukrainian Department of Defense threatened more attacks on Russia.
"The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down. What’s next in line, russkies?" the Ukrainian Department of Defense's Twitter page wrote.
The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down.
What’s next in line, russkies?— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 8, 2022
Zero Hedge explained the strategic importance of the Crimean Bridge:
The Crimean Peninsula is key to sustaining Russia’s military operations in the south. If the bridge is made inoperable, it would make it significantly more challenging to ferry supplies to the peninsula. While Russia seized the areas north of Crimea early during the invasion and built a land corridor to it along the Sea of Azov, Ukraine is pressing a counteroffensive to reclaim them.
The explosion on the Crimean Bridge took place hours after multiple explosions early Saturday hit the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, which triggered a series of secondary explosions. The city’s mayor, Ihor Terekhov, said that the series of explosions were due to missile strikes aimed at the center of the city, which caused fires at one of Kharkiv’s medical institutions, as well as a nonresidential building. No reports of casualties were noted.
While nobody has publicly claimed responsibility for the attack, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s aide, Mikhail Podoliak, posted on Twitter saying the explosion is “the beginning.”
"Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," he tweeted.
Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled. pic.twitter.com/yUiSwOLlDP
— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) October 8, 2022
Another big question
Who leaked this surveillance videos so easily? pic.twitter.com/mryt3TzwiT
— Russian Market (@runews) October 8, 2022
Cont. from Zero Hedge:
Podoliak previously in August threatened the bridge, telling The Guardian that the bridge is “an illegal construction and the main gateway to supply the Russian army in Crimea” and that “such objects should be destroyed.”
Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials have also previously stated that Ukraine will use force to retake Crimea.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after a vast majority of people in Crimea had voted in a referendum in March 2014 to reunite with Russia and secede from Ukraine. The vote took place after anti-Russia, pro-E.U. factions overthrew then-Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych’s government, which wasn’t against Russia, in an armed coup in February 2014.
The referendum was condemned by the United States and the European Union, with the latter saying in a statement (pdf) that the poll was “illegal and illegitimate.” Both the United States and the E.U. issued sanctions in response to the vote.
The Crimean Bridge, a $3.69 billion (230 billion rubles) project, was constructed following the annexation of Crimea. Russia opened the first part of the span to car traffic in May 2018. The parallel bridge for rail traffic opened the following year. Before the bridge’s existence, the Crimean Peninsula could only be reached from Russia by sea or air.
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