Crimean Bridge Fire: Blaze erupts on only bridge linking peninsula to Russia

A fire has broken out on the sole bridge that connects the Crimean peninsula to Russia.

According to Russian state media, an explosion triggered by a vehicle was the source of a major fire that occurred on the sole crossing between the Russian Federation and the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Following the explosion that occurred on the road bridge, oil tankers that were on the rail portion caught fire.

The footage showed a train that was on fire, and the road crossing that was nearby appeared to have also been damaged.

Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 necessitated the usage of the Kerch bridge, which is being utilised for the transport of military supplies into Ukraine.

According to Russian state media, transportation has been stopped temporarily.

“Today at 06:07 on the road part of the Crimean bridge from the side of the Taman Peninsula, a truck was blown up,” the National Anti-Terrorism Committee (NAC) is quoted as saying by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti. This explosion caused the ignition of seven fuel tanks of a railway train that was heading towards the Crimean peninsula.

RIA Novosti cited an adviser to the leader of Crimea as saying that efforts were being made to put out the fire.

In 2018, President Vladimir Putin was responsible for opening the bridge that spans the Kerch Strait. This occurred four years after Moscow unlawfully occupied Crimea.

It is believed to be a primary objective for the Ukrainian forces that have been conducting attacks against Russian supply lines.

More than 100 kilometres separate the crossing from area held by the Ukrainians. According to one explosives expert who spoke with the BBC, the fire was most likely not sparked by a missile.

“The absence of clear blast / fragmentation damage on the road surface suggests that an air-delivered weapon was not used,” he added. “The lack of obvious blast / fragmentation damage on the road surface suggests that an air-delivered weapon was not utilised.”

He speculated that “a well-planned onslaught from below may have been the source of this incident.”