Sensational new videos showed the moment the Crimean Bridge was hit by at least one giant explosion.
The footage increases the likelihood that Putin's key crossing was targeted by a Ukrainian attack in the hours after his 70th birthday.
The videos seem to suggest a truck explodes while on the road section of the bridge as it drives towards Kerch in Crimea.
Three people were killed in the blast, which may have been caused by a suicide bomb in a truck.
So far there have been no reports of sightings of incoming missiles.
But some witnesses claimed there were two explosions .
Earlier today, Ukraine's Ministry of Defence inferred that their forces may be responsible for detonating t.he bomb.
The government department wrote: "The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down. What’s next in line, russkies?
On one of the videos, a man can be heard sayinfPdeo is heard saying: "It seems to me there were two explosions, no? -- If it was a missile, it would hit the second [rail] bridge too in any case.”
There were suggestions Putin may address the nation on the bridge explosion amid fears he will unleash havoc on Ukraine.
He has already hinted that he could use nuclear weapons in the war with Ukraine.
Videos showed extensive damage to the structure after the flames had been extinguished.
Russia launched a criminal case into the damage to the bridge, said the country’s Investigation Committee.
It comes days after a US official claimed that Ukraine could retake the region as Russia continues to flounder in its war.
Widespread images on social media show the bridge in the Kerch strait linking Russia with Crimea ferociously ablaze.
One video shows that a road section of the bridge has completely given way and collapsed into the sea while a freight train appears to be stationary and ablaze on the rail part of the key link between Russia and the Crimea that was opened in 2018.
Residents in the area have reported hearing powerful explosions at around 6am local time on Saturday morning.
A train on the bridge has caught fire, according to a Crimean official, reported the TASS agency.
Oleg Kryuchkov, adviser to the head of Crimea, said that a fuel tank has caught fire on one of the sections of the Crimean bridge and that the shipping arches are not damaged.
“Preliminarily, a fuel tank is on fire in one of the sections. The shipping arches are not damaged. It’s too early to talk about the causes and consequences. Work is underway to extinguish the fire,” Kryuchkov wrote in his Telegram channel.
Traffic over the Crimean bridge was stopped by the Russian authorities, TASS added.
Vladimir Putin's forces have failed to make the swift progress through Ukraine that was expected by many at the start of the invasion and recently they have been forced to retreat in the south and east of the country.
In a video, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces' latest offensive had liberated 940 square miles and 96 settlements in the country's east.
