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Traffic has been halted on the main bridge linking Crimea to mainland Russia amid reports of explosions.
The Ministry of Health in the Russian Krasnodar region, located at the eastern end of the bridge, said that two people were killed in an unspecified accident on the bridge, and their daughter was injured.
The governor of Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, announced the closure of the bridge early Monday morning, but he did not specify the reason.
News reports said local residents heard explosions before dawn, but there was no confirmation. It was not immediately clear the extent of the damage, but Governor Sergei Aksionov said he expected rail traffic to resume on the bridge within several hours. The Telegram channel Baza, which has links to the Russian security services, published images showing the lane on the road of the bridge being torn apart, and the front of the black car appearing to be smashed.
The bridge, which spans the Kerch Strait, was damaged in October by a truck bomb and required months of repairs before full service could be resumed. The bridge carries both road and rail traffic and is an important supply artery for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The 19-kilometer bridge opened in 2018 and is the main land link between Russia and Crimea.
Andriy Yusov, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Military Intelligence Department, declined to comment on Monday about the incident, but said: “The Russians use the peninsula as a major logistical hub to move troops and assets deep into Ukraine’s territory. Of course, any logistical problems are additional complications for the occupiers.”
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