Russia Resumes Rail Traffic on Crimean Bridge... Retaliatory Attack on Ukraine

Zelensky: "12 Dead in Zaporizhzhia Bombing"

President Zelensky of Ukraine. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Rail traffic on the Crimean Bridge, which was temporarily suspended due to an explosion, has resumed.

According to TASS news agency on the 9th (local time), the Russian Ministry of Transport announced that passenger and freight trains are operating on the Crimean Bridge as scheduled, and train routes connecting to the suburbs will also begin operation around 7 p.m. that day.

The Crimean Bridge, connecting mainland Russia and the Crimean Peninsula, experienced an explosion at 6:07 a.m. the previous day. The Russian side explained that a bomb exploded on a truck passing over the vehicle bridge, causing part of the vehicle bridge to collapse and a fire to spread to a freight train on the railway bridge. Despite the fire damage to the railway bridge, where several tens of meters of structure burned, the tracks themselves did not collapse, allowing operations to resume.

Russia, accusing Ukraine of being behind the explosion and vowing retaliation, attacked civilian residential areas in Ukraine, causing dozens of casualties. According to foreign media, several missiles fell consecutively in Zaporizhzhia in southeastern Ukraine on the night of the 8th and early morning of the 9th, just hours after the Crimean Bridge explosion. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated via Telegram that 12 people were killed and 49 injured in the Russian attack on residential areas in Zaporizhzhia.