Russia says Ukraine killed two people in an attack on a key bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia

Moscow on Monday blamed Ukraine for a fresh attack that damaged the bridge connecting mainland Russia with Russia’s occupied Crimea peninsula. Crimea is home to a number of important Russian bases used by Vladimir Putin’s forces in the wake of terrorist attacks invasion of Ukraine.

According to the Russian government, a nighttime explosion on the bridge killed two people and injured their 14-year-old daughter. The bridge remained standing, although traffic was interrupted for some time.

Russia illegally annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and its mountains and beaches are vacation spots for Russian tourists. The 12-mile-long bridge over the Kerch Strait — the longest bridge in Europe — is the only direct link between Russia’s Krasnodar Krai and Crimea, avoiding fighting-plagued overland routes. It serves as a visible reminder to Ukrainians of Russia’s claim to Crimea and is an important supply route for the Russian military to occupied Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities have neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for Monday’s attack on the bridge.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba told CBS Mornings that “a broken Russian bridge means fewer broken Ukrainian lives because this bridge will be used to provide the Russian army with additional resources in occupied Crimea and the occupied territories of southern Ukraine.” add to.” “

Russia said the attack was carried out by unmanned Ukrainian drones, and Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova hinted that the US and UK also bore some blame.

“Decisions are made by Ukrainian officials and the military with the direct participation of American and British intelligence agencies and politicians,” Zakharova said. “The US and Great Britain are responsible for a terrorist state structure.”

The Last big attack on the bridge was in October.

Russian authorities organized ferries to transport some of the 50,000 tourists in Crimea back to mainland Russia, The Associated Press reported, while others were told to travel around 250 miles through parts of Ukraine occupied by Russian forces to get home .

“Security is provided by the Russian army. It will be strengthened,” said Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader of a Russian-held part of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region.

He said the curfew was being eased and while there would still be checkpoints, the formal procedures for passing through those checkpoints would be “reduced”.