CNN –
A fuel tank exploded early Saturday on Europe’s longest bridge, which links Russia to the annexed territory of Crimea, according to Russian state media RIA and social media footage.
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 Russia’s annexed Crimean peninsula.
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.
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.”
An official in Russia-annexed Crimea blamed “Ukrainian vandals” for the explosion at the Kerch bridge 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.
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.
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. The its opening, according to Russia’s official narrative, claimed to mark the physical “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland.
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.”