CNN –
In a major blow to Russia, a fuel tank explosion early Saturday caused part of Europe’s longest bridge linking Russia with the annexed territory of Crimea to collapse, Russian officials said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately ordered a “government commission” to look into the “emergency” of the Kerch bridge in Crimea, Russian state media TASS reported.
The heads of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations and Ministry of Transport are now at the scene of the incident, according to TASS.
Sergey Aksenov, the head of Crimea appointed by Russia, confirmed that “two sections of the road bed of the [of the bridge] from Krasnodar to Kerch, collapsed” after a large explosion.
Aksenov said that “at the same time, the fuel tanks caught fire. Now two locomotives are approaching” to remove the burning train, he said. Video and images from the bridge show several charred railroad fuel trucks.
“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 traffic restoration,” Aksenov said.
Images of the Kerch Bridge posted on social media appeared to show that part of the vehicle carriageway and railway bridge had fallen into the waters below. Flames are seen burning from the wagons above.
The tanker was on the 19-kilometer (11-mile) long bridge, which is strategically important because it links Russia’s Krasnodar region to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
The bridge crosses the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, home to Ukraine’s main ports, including Mariupol.
The origin of the explosion is still unclear. It is also unclear if anyone was injured.
For Russia, the bridge symbolizes the physical “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland.
No further details on the commission’s timeline or scope have been announced. The decision comes after Putin “received reports from [Russian Prime Minister] Mikhail Mishustin, [Russian Deputy Prime Minister] Marat Khusnullin, the heads of the Ministry of Emergency Situations, the Ministry of Transport and the heads of the law enforcement agencies in connection with the emergency on the Crimean bridge,” TASS reported, citing Putin’s press secretary , Dmitry Peskov.
Russian state media RIA Novosti said “there are still no projections for the timing of the restoration of the Crimean bridge,” also citing Peskov.
Work is underway “to put out the fire,” an adviser to the head of the Russian administration in occupied Crimea, Oleg Kryunchkov, said in a Telegram post, adding that “the shipping arches of the bridge are not were damaged.”
A Crimean official blamed “Ukrainian vandals” for the Kerch bridge explosion in a Telegram post.
“Ukrainian vandals somehow managed to put their bloody paws on the Crimean bridge. And now they have something to be proud of, in 23 years of their economic activity, they did not manage to build anything worthy of interest in Crimea. But they did manage to damage the roadbed of the Russian bridge,” said Chairman of the State Council of the Republic of Crimea Vladimir Konstantinov.
“This is the whole essence of the Kyiv regime and the Ukrainian state… Of course, the causes of the accident will be investigated and the damage will be quickly repaired,” he added.
CNN cannot independently verify Konstantinov’s claim.
Ukrainian officials responded to the explosion on Saturday without directly acknowledging that Ukraine was responsible for the blast.
“Air Defense of the Russian Federation, are you sleeping?” the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Facebook, alongside a video showing a section of the bridge road that had been completely destroyed.
“Russian illegal construction is starting to collapse and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, sooner or later it will explode. And this is just the beginning,” said David Arakhamia , head of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in parliament and a member of Kyiv’s negotiating team with Russia, in a Telegram statement about the incident.
In an interview in August, a senior Ukrainian military commander said the Kerch bridge was a legitimate target.
“This is a necessary measure to deprive them (Russia) of the opportunity to provide reserves and reinforce their troops from Russian territory,” Major General Dmytro Marchenko said in an interview with RBC-Ukraine.
Meanwhile, a freight train in Ilovaisk, in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, was hit by a “powerful explosion” on Saturday morning, according to an adviser to the mayor of Mariupol, Petro Andrushenko.
“Not just Crimea. Not just the fuel tanks. There’s also a cargo train in Ilovaisk. Locals report quite a powerful explosion and subsequent detonation at night. The occupiers are now having major problems with supplies both sides,” Andrushenko said.
Pro-Russian authorities in the self-proclaimed Donetsk republic confirmed the freight train incident and released a video on Saturday showing the aftermath of the fire at a local railway station.
On Thursday, US President Joe Biden expressed caution about the dangers of Putin’s nuclear threats as his military continued to experience military setbacks in Ukraine.
“For the first time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of using (a) nuclear weapon if in fact things continue on the way they are going,” Biden warned Thursday evening during remarks at a fundraiser of Democratic background in New York.
He added: “I don’t think there is any such thing as the ability to easily use a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.
“I’m trying to figure out what Putin’s exit ramp is?” Biden said during the event: “Where does he find a way out? Where does he find himself in a position where he not only loses face, but loses significant power within Russia?
The Kerch bridge is capable of carrying 40,000 cars a day and moving 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo a year, state news agency RIA Novosti reported when the bridge opened in 2018.
After the bridge opened, the United States condemned its construction as illegal.
“Russia’s construction of the bridge serves as a reminder of Russia’s continued willingness to ignore international law,” according to a US State Department statement at the time.
“The bridge represents not only an attempt by Russia to consolidate its illegal seizure and occupation of Crimea, but also impedes navigation by limiting the size of ships that can pass through the Kerch Strait, the only way to reach Ukrainian territorial waters in the Sea of Azov.”
Ukrainian officials echoed those sentiments after the blast.
“Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything that is illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything that is occupied by Russia must be expelled”, Mykhailo Podoliak, who serves as an adviser to the leader of Ukraine.