Moscow, July 15 (IANS) The Russian government said that the Kerch bridge, that connects the country to the occupied Crimean Peninsula, partially opened to traffic movement on Tuesday a day after it was attacked.
Acccording to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, vehicles were using a single lane of the bridge, the BBC reported.
Also posting a video appearing to show cars crossing the bridge at night, Khusnullin said that motor traffic along both lanes of the bridge is expected to be resumed by November 1.
“Preliminarily, we plan to resume two-way traffic along one side of the bridge by September 15, and on the other side by November 1,” the state-run TASS News Agency quoted the Deputy Prime Minister as saying.
According to Russia’s Transport Ministry, the bridge’s supports were not damaged in the attack, which ruptured the span.
Russian media reports said that two Ukrainian surface drones attacked the bridge on Monday, leaving two adults dead and a child injured.
Russia’s Investigative Committee has initiated a criminal case on charges of a terror attack.
Condemning the attack, President Vladimir Putin on Monday night said it was “yet another terrorist act of the Kiev regime”, TASS News Agency reported.
He called the attack “senseless, having absolutely no military relevance because the Crimean bridge has not been used for military deliveries for a long time”.
Ukraine is yet to respond to the Russian allegations.
The Kerch bridge was opened in 2018 and enables road and rail travel between Russia and Crimea.
The attack comes about 10 months afteran explosion on the Kerch bridge in October 2022 disrupted major transport links between Russia and the annexed Crimean Peninsula.
Not only did the blast on the bridge struck a blow against Russia’s military effort in Ukraine but also represented a psychological blow for Moscow and a major propaganda victory for Kiev.
Ukrainian officials celebrated the blast at the time but did not claim esponsibility.
It took place a day after Putin turned 70.
–IANS
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