Traffic on a key bridge connecting Crimea to Russia’s mainland came to a standstill after one of its sections was blown up, killing two people and wounding their daughter. Russian officials blamed the attack on Ukraine, but Kyiv didn’t admit it.
FILE - A helicopter drops water to stop fire on Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait, in Kerch, on Oct. 8, 2022. Traffic on the key bridge connecting Crimea to Russia’s mainland has been halted amid reports of explosions. The governor of Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, announced the closure early Monday, July 17, 2023, but did not specify the reason.
The attack was the second major strike on the bridge since October, when a truck bomb blew up two of its sections. The Kerch Bridge is a conspicuous symbol of Moscow’s claims on Crimea and an essential land link to the peninsula, which Russia captured from Ukraine in 2014. The $3.6 billion bridge is the longest in Europe and is crucial for enabling Russia’s military operations in southern Ukraine during the almost 17-month-long war.
Kyiv didn’t initially acknowledge responsibility for last October’s bombing of the bridge, either, but Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar acknowledged earlier this month that Ukraine struck it to derail Russian logistics. At the time of the attack, Moscow decried it as an act of terror and vowed to step up its own attacks on Ukraine's civilian infrastructure. It targeted the Ukrainian power grid over the winter.
Russia's Belgorod region Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said the attack killed a married couple from the region while their daughter was hospitalized with serious injuries.
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