Explosion near Crimean Bridge

Moscow-controlled Crimea residents report explosion near bridge

Residents of Moscow-controlled Crimea reported an explosion near a bridge connecting the peninsula with Russia early Saturday morning.

But a Russian-appointed official in the area denied that the bridge had been attacked. “Once again there was no direct attack on the Crimean bridge and no explosion in the immediate vicinity,” Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to the Russian-appointed Crimean governor, said, according to Russian news agencies.

Ukrainian marches attack

Other pro-Russian officials in Ukrainian-controlled areas said the explosions were linked to Ukrainian drone attacks.

In turn, the Ukrainian news agency Uniyan reported that 3 explosions occurred in the region, Reuters reports.

According to Ukrainian media, pro-Russian officials in parts of Ukraine controlled by it also report that Ukrainian drones attacked an oil tanker called SIG under the Russian flag in the Kerch Strait.

Vladimir Rogov, a Moscow-appointed official in the southeastern region of Zaporozhye, also released an audio recording of the tanker ordering tugboats to tow it. He said that no one was injured in the accident, which occurred 32 nautical miles from the Kerch Strait.

Motor oil to Syria

According to some reports, the tanker was carrying motor oil to Syria. So far, Kyiv has not made any statements about these reports.

Traffic stopped on the bridge early in the morning, the third such stop in the last 24 hours.

He suffered two major attacks

It is noteworthy that the bridge, which Russia built in 2018, 4 years after Moscow annexed the peninsula from Ukraine, has been subject to two major attacks since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine 17 months ago, with the latest attack being the last month.

Ukraine claimed responsibility for the attacks only indirectly.