There was an explosion on the railway bridge across the Kerch Strait, and part of the road bridge collapsed. Several fuel tanks were occupied, the movement of cars and trains on the bridge was stopped.
The first reports about the fire and explosion on the bridge appeared around six in the morning Moscow time.
Local "authorities" said that a fuel tank caught fire on a freight train traveling over the bridge. This was announced by Oleg Kryuchkov, the adviser to the head of the annexed Crimea, and later confirmed by the press service of "Crimean Railway". "The navigable arches are not damaged. It is too early to talk about the causes and consequences. Work is underway to extinguish the fire," Kryuchkov wrote on his Telegram channel.
Later, the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that a truck detonation occurred on the Crimean bridge, which led to the explosion of seven fuel tanks of the railway depot.
Sergei Aksyonov, the head of the annexed Crimea appointed by Moscow, confirmed in his Telegram channel that "as a result of the NP, the collapse of two spans of the roadway of the branch that goes from Krasnodar to Kerch."
"At the same time, the fuel tanks caught fire," writes Aksyonov. "Now two locomotives are approaching from Tamani and Kerch, which will stretch the burning warehouse. As soon as the fire is extinguished, it will be possible to assess the extent of damage to the bridge and supports, and we can talk about deadlines restoration of movement ".
Aksyonov added that "according to a visual assessment, one car thread from Kerch to Taman is intact." However, at the same time, he noted that "the ferry crossing is ready for launch, it will start working from today."
Around 10:00 a.m. Moscow time, the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations announced that the fire on the Crimean Bridge had been extinguished. "The fire at the railway depot with diesel fuel on the Crimean Bridge has been extinguished, at the moment there is no open burning," Interfax quoted the agency's press service as saying.
The Taman road department confirmed that traffic on the bridge has been stopped.
"Russian Railways" also informs that "in connection with the event on the Vyshesteblivska (bridge) - Kerch-Pivdenna Novy park track, train traffic has been temporarily suspended." The state-owned company said in a statement that several trains were delayed, including those from Moscow and St. Petersburg to Simferopol and from Simferopol to Perm and Smolensk. The sale of tickets for trains in connection with Crimea has also been stopped.
The press service of the Investigative Committee of Russia reported that a criminal case has been opened at the Crimean Post based on the fact of the incident. "Criminalists of the Main Directorate of Criminalistics went to the place on the instructions of the head of the SC," the department's press service quotes. The investigative committee does not specify under which article the criminal case was initiated, but it writes that "investigators are identifying persons involved in the commission of the crime."
Vladimir Putin received reports about what happened from the prime minister, the heads of the Ministry of Emergency Situations and the heads of law enforcement agencies and ordered the formation of a "government commission to find out the causes of the event and eliminate the consequences as soon as possible," said the press secretary of the Russian president, Dmytro Peskov.
One of the video recordings of the event was published on his "Twitter" by the head of the Mykolayiv regional state administration, Vitaly Kim.
— Vitaliy Kim (@vitalij_kim) October 8, 2022
Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to the head of the office of the President of Ukraine, published on his Twitter a photo with a collapsed bridge and wrote in English: "Crimea, a bridge, a beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be returned ".
Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled. pic.twitter.com/yUiSwOLlDP
— Mykhailo Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) October 8, 2022
Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, commented on the explosion on the Crimean Bridge with an ironic post on Facebook.
He posted a video in which Marilyn Monroe's famous musical greeting to US President John F. Kennedy ("Happy Birthday, Mr. President") is combined with footage of the Crimean Bridge burning. Danilov only wrote "Good morning, Ukraine" above the video.
It should be noted that the Ukrainian military command stated several times that the bridge must be destroyed. However, Kyiv admitted that it does not yet have weapons capable of disabling the Crimean Bridge.
In addition, the Ukrainian military has been constantly striking the Antoniv bridge across the Dnipro in Kherson for several months - this is done to cut off the supply routes for the Russian troops stationed on the right bank of the river. Dozens of rockets have already been fired at it, but these attacks did not lead to the same destruction as on the Crimean bridge after the explosion and ignition of fuel tanks.
