Putin dealt bitter blow as blast cripples key bridge to Crimea

An explosion has crippled the heavily guarded bridge connecting Crimea to the Russian mainland, a hated symbol of Russian occupation and key logistics link for Russian troops in southern Ukraine, in the latest heavy blow to Vladimir Putin after weeks of military humiliation.

The Kerch bridge was a personal prestige project for the Russian president, and the hit came the day after his 70th birthday. The blast destroyed the road into Crimea and left the railway link in flames.

If it was planned in Kyiv, it would be the latest sign of Ukrainian military confidence on the ground, even as Russia claims more Ukrainian territory on paper. No serious military analyst is suggesting that Ukraine is close to being in a position to regain Crimea, but the idea feels much less fanciful than it did a year ago.

By Saturday evening, Russia said the rail link across the bridge was operational again but road traffic would remain constricted.

The explosion on the bridge, which witnesses said could be heard miles away, happened at about 6am on Saturday while a train was crossing; it was engulfed in flames and sections of the road bridge collapsed into the water.

Russia set up a committee to investigate the attack. Within hours it said three people had been killed and blamed a truck bomb for the blast. It said the driver was a resident of the southern Russian Kuban region.

Footage shared on Russian Telegram channels and news agencies appeared to show the moment of the explosion, with two vehicles, a truck and a car, at the centre of the blast, although it was unclear whether either was responsible or simply caught up in the detonation.

Overnight shelling once again cut power to the plant, and Petro Kotin, head of the state nuclear company Energoatom, warned that the plant had only limited diesel to fuel emergency backup generators.