After heavy explosion on the Crimean bridge Moscow has accused Ukraine, among others, of being responsible for the destruction.
The head of the national investigative body, Alexander Bastrykin, said at a meeting with President Vladimir Putin that Russian citizens and foreign countries had helped with the preparation. Putin also named the Ukrainian secret service SBU. Kyiv has not yet admitted involvement in the attack.
“There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critical civilian infrastructure in the Russian Federation,” said the Kremlin chief. Its authors, perpetrators and beneficiaries are the security services of Ukraine.
Restricted crossing
Until further notice, only cars are allowed to cross the damaged bridge. Trucks have to cross to Crimea by ferry. Hot meals have been organized for truck drivers waiting in line.
According to British experts, the explosion may have significantly reduced the capacity of the road link. Two of the four lanes collapsed over a length of 250 meters. The other two lanes would probably be used once more, according to the daily intelligence update from the British Ministry of Defence.
Long queues of cars, but train traffic in normal operation
According to Russian information, train traffic was back to schedule on Sunday. The freight and long-distance trains rolled in normal operation, said the Ministry of Transport in Moscow. Regional traffic should also start once more in the evening, it said. The clean-up work continued. In traffic, there were hours of waiting at the bridge, as reported by the media.
In an initial reaction, the national investigative committee reported that a truck coming from the Russian side and loaded with explosives had exploded on the bridge. The detonation killed several filled with diesel Tank car of a freight train caught fire on the higher railway bridge. Three people died.