Despite the damage to the bridge, limited vehicular traffic resumed about 10 hours after the explosion, and the Ministry of Transport allowed the resumption of rail traffic shortly thereafter, while the distance from which ships pass through the strait was not affected.
Here are key facts about the bridge:
1 – The length of the Crimean Bridge is 19 km over the Kerch Strait.
2 – The bridge is the only direct link between Russia’s transport network and Crimea, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
3- The bridge was a pioneering project of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who opened it in a grand celebration during which he himself drove one of the trucks in 2018.
4 – The bridge consists of two separate roads, one by land and the other by rail. The bridge is over a point where ships pass between the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov.
5- The bridge was built at a cost of $ 3.6 billion, and was built by a company owned by Arkady Rothenberg, a close ally of Putin who used to play judo with him.
6- The bridge is important for supplying the Crimea with fuel, food and other products. The port of Sevastopol, historically the base of the Russian Black Sea Fleet, is located on the peninsula.
7- The bridge became a major supply route for Russian forces after Moscow began its war against Ukraine on February 24, and sent forces from Crimea to control most of the Kherson region in southern Ukraine and some parts of the neighboring Zaporizhia region. The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that those forces could be fully supplied through existing land and sea routes.
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