Fire breaks out on Kerch bridge linking Russia to Crimea

Traffic has been suspended on the Kerch bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia, after a fuel tank caught fire, Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency said, putting at risk a key supply route for Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

“A fuel tank is on fire on one of the sections of the Crimean bridge,” the agency said on Saturday, citing a regional official, but without stating the cause.

“The shipping arches are not damaged.” Images shared on social media purported to show fire and damage to the span.

The Tass news agency also reported the fire. Ukraine’s media reported an explosion at the road and rail bridge. They said the blast happened at about 6am (03:00 GMT).

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports.

Russia’s investigative committee said it had “initiated a criminal case in connection with the incident on the Crimean bridge”.

“According to preliminary information, this morning on the automobile part of the Crimean bridge from the side of the Taman Peninsula, a truck was blown up, which caused seven fuel tanks to ignite on a train heading towards the Crimea peninsula,” the committee said.

“As a result, two lanes partially collapsed.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the bridge in 2018 after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in violation of international law in 2014.

Al Jazeera’s Mohamad Vall reporting from Moscow said the explosion on Kerch bridge was a “big blow” to the Russians.

“Russians are still trying to make sense of what happened,” Vall said, adding that the bridge is a key supply line between mainland Russia and Crimea.

“It’s a big blow to Russian connections, economic and military supplies going to Crimea, and so far we are still collecting details and reactions … but understandably, in Russia here, it’s perceived by people who have written and commented about this … as a terrorist act,” Vall added.

Meanwhile in Kyiv, Al Jazeera’s Rory Challands said there was “jubilation” in Ukraine after the incident.

“This does strike at Vladimir Putin’s prestige. It does strike Vladimir Putin’s image of control. And I think under the bravado of Ukraine at the moment, there might be some nervousness about what his response might be to this,” he added.

“It also gives the Russians a very big headache when it comes to supplying their southern front in Ukraine because the [Russian] army … at the moment is largely supplied by rail networks and that main railway network for the southern front came through Crimea across the Kerch bridge,” Challands said.

He said now the only other route by rail is to go around the north shore of the Azov Sea and that is currently about 30 to 40 kilometers from the front lines.

“That’s within striking range of Ukrainian HIMARS,” Challands added.

Fighting elsewhere

The fire occurred hours after explosions rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early on Saturday, sending towering plumes of smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the early-morning explosions were the result of missile strikes in the centre of the city.

He said that the blasts sparked fires at one of the city’s medical institutions and a non-residential building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

In September, Russia announced the annexation of the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia after staging referendums that Kyiv and the West say were phoney exercises held at gunpoint.

Ukraine’s military in recent weeks has pushed back against Russian forces across the front lines in the south and the east, including in parts of Donetsk. Western weaponry has helped the Ukrainian army win back more territory in the past month than Russian forces have taken in five months.

Source: Aljazeera and news agencies