MOSCOW (dpa-AFX) – After the heavy explosion on the bridge between Russia and the Black Sea peninsula, Crimea, which it annexed, rail traffic has returned to work according to plan, according to Russian information. Freight and long-distance trains ran normally on Sunday, announced the Ministry of Transport in Moscow. Regional traffic is also expected to resume in the evening, it says. The ministry also released a photo of the burnt freight train carriages that caught fire on Saturday. The remediation work continued. In car traffic, however, there were hours of waiting at the bridge, as reported by the media.
Long car queues formed on the Russian side and on the side of the coastal city of Kerch, in the Crimea, because the authorities rigorously checked all vehicles and, according to eyewitnesses, only let them pass in stages. Some drivers wrote on social networks that it took six to twelve hours to cross the 19-kilometer bridge. According to Russian state media, there were also problems and waiting times with the specially set up ferry service.
On Saturday morning, an explosion on the Crimean bridge caused a major fire. Parts of the road to the Crimea fell into the sea. According to investigators in Moscow, a truck loaded with explosives from the Russian side exploded. Following the detonation, several tank cars of a diesel-filled freight train caught fire on the highest railway bridge. As a result, three people died.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has repeatedly announced that Crimea will be liberated from Russian occupation. However, Ukraine did not recognize the attack. Even Russia, which is waging a war of aggression against Ukraine, has so far not publicly held the Kiev leadership responsible for the attack. The rail link is also important for supplying Russian troops at the front in southern Ukraine.
