Crimea Bridge closed off for traffic following unknown damage.
MOSCOW:
Traffic along a Russian-built bridge linking Crimea to Russia’s Krasnodar region has been halted following an “emergency”, officials and state media said on Monday.
The bridge to Crimea, which Moscow annexed in 2014, serves as a vital link for transporting supplies to Russian soldiers in Ukraine.
“Traffic was stopped on the Crimean bridge: an emergency occurred in the area of the 145th pillar from the Krasnodar Territory,” Russia-installed governor of Crimea Sergei Aksyonov wrote on Telegram.
The roadway on the Crimea side of the bridge had been “damaged,” Russia’s transport ministry said on Telegram, without giving details on what caused the damage.
“Law enforcement agencies and all relevant services are working… measures are being taken to handle the situation,” Aksyonov, said.
He did not provide any other details.
Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency quoted the authorities in Krasnodar as saying traffic was backed up to around 3 kilometres (1.8 miles) from the entrance of the bridge, without specifying which side.
One minor was injured in the “emergency” on the bridge, Krasnodar authorities cited the local health ministry as saying.
Pro-military bloggers and Russian media reported two explosions hit the bridge early Monday.
AFP could not immediately confirm the reports.
Ferry services between the Crimea and Kuban had been stopped, Russia’s TASS news agency cited local Krasnodar authorities as saying.
The movement of trains to the Crimea “may be changed” due to the emergency, the Grand Service Express said, according to TASS.
All tourists currently in Crimea should stay in their lodgings if possible, Oleg Kryuchkov, advisor to the Crimea governor said.
In October, the bridge — which was personally inaugurated by Russian President Vladimir Putin in 2018 — was partially destroyed in a blast that killed three people. Moscow blamed Kyiv for the attack.
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 after a referendum widely regarded as a sham by Kyiv and Western countries.
The peninsula has been regularly hit by strikes and attacks targeting Russian-installed officials over recent months that Moscow has blamed on Kyiv.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)