Light traffic has resumed on Russia's only bridge to Crimea, hours after a large blast damaged sections of the route.<br />According to investigators, the blast on Europe's longest bridge, a symbol of Russia's annexation of the peninsula from Ukraine in 2014, killed three people.<br />According to Russian officials, the victims were in a nearby car when a lorry blew up.<br />The railway portion of the bridge, where oil tanks caught fire, appears to have reopened as well.<br />On Saturday evening, Russia's foreign ministry released a video that appears to show cars using the bridge.<br />The rail and road crossing was opened in 2018 and is a key supply route for Russia's invasion of Ukraine.<br />An adviser to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, did not directly claim Ukrainian responsibility but wrote: "Crimea, the bridge, the beginning.<br />"Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled."<br />Ukraine's defence ministry compared the bridge explosion to the sinking of Russia's Moskva missile cruiser in April.<br />"Two notorious symbols of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea have gone down," it tweeted. "What's next in line?"<br />The Ukrainian government itself simply tweeted: "Sick burn."<br />Russia's foreign ministry said: "The Kyiv regime's reaction towards destruction of civilian infrastructure is a testament to its terrorist nature."<br />It is hard to exaggerate the significance, and symbolism, of seeing the bridge - which was opened by President Putin - on fire.<br />Russia has used the bridge to move military equipment, ammunition, and personnel from Russia to battlefields in southern Ukraine.<br />As such, Ukrainian authorities said it was a legitimate target, as they vow to retake the peninsula.<br />Any attack on Crimea, where the Russian army has a massive presence, will be seen as another massive humiliation for the Kremlin.<br /><br />Source:<br />https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-63183404
