The blast that rocked the Crimean Bridge early on Saturday is just “the beginning,” a top aide to Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky has warned.
“Crimea, the bridge, the beginning,” Mikhail Podoliak tweeted. “Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled.” The former journalist, who is effectively the Kiev regime's main propagandist, controls the president's "information policy."
He previously warned, in August, that Europe’s largest bridge “should be destroyed” because it’s “an illegal construction and the main gateway to supply the Russian army in Crimea.”
The crossing was closed in the early hours of Saturday after a truck exploded, damaging the road and causing a huge fire.
Ukrainian officials have promised to attack the Crimean Bridge, which connects the Russian peninsula of Crimea to the country’s Krasnodar Region, on numerous occasions during the conflict between Moscow and Kiev.
Zelensky and other members of his team have also threatened that Ukraine will use force to retake Crimea, which overwhelmingly voted to reunite with Russia in a referendum in 2014.
The blast occurred at around 6am local time, causing a partial collapse of the road on the section for vehicles. A blaze also broke out on the parallel rail section, where seven fuel tanks caught fire. Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that a truck exploded as it was traveling along the 19-km-long structure.
The fire has been extinguished, and the damage caused by the blast is being assessed. The Crimean authorities said ferry service will be provided while the bridge is being repaired.