President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the bridge in 2018, four years after Moscow annexed Crimea, with the goal of connecting the peninsula to Russia's transportation network.
The 19-kilometer bridge spans the Kerch Strait and connects Crimea to mainland Russia. It is made up of railway and vehicle sections. In 2020, it will be fully operational.
"An object believed to be a fuel storage tank has caught fire on the Crimean Bridge, but the viaduct's navigable arches sustained no damage, an aide to the head of Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, said as cited by the Russian news agency TASS.
National Anti-Terrorism Committee of Russia informed that the bridge was damaged in a blast that occurred shortly after 6:00 AM. Due to the explosion, the vehicle section of the road partially collapsed. The explosion also sparked a fire in a freight train on the parallel railway section.
According to TASS, Crimea's Head Sergey Aksyonov, a ferry service across the Kerch Strait will begin later today.
Reports are also claiming that the bridge became a target of the counter-offensive by the Ukrainian forces who have increased the intensity of their attack after the annexation of four regions of Ukraine by Russia.
After the annexation of four regions of Ukraine- Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson by Russia, Ukraine is giving a tough time to Russian forces on every front. Since launching an offensive in Kherson at the end of last month, the Ukrainian Army has made steady progress, prompting rare criticism of Moscow's war effort even from pro-Russian figures.
"The Ukrainian army is making a rather fast and powerful advance in the south of our country in the course of the ongoing defensive operation," Zelenskyy said in his address.
"Our warriors do not stop. And it is only a matter of time before we will expel the occupier from all our land."
