Russian authorities reported on Saturday {that a} main fireplace had damaged out on the one bridge connecting mainland Russia with the occupied Crimean peninsula.

Russian state-backed media quoted the Nationwide Anti-Terrorism Committee as saying a truck exploded on the street visitors facet of the Kerch Bridge at 6:07 a.m. native time. The blaze is believed to have set seven oil tankers being transported by rail to Crimea on fireplace, inflicting the street visitors facet of the bridge to partially collapse.

The Kerch Bridge is one in every of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s status tasks. It was constructed shortly after the Kremlin annexed Crimea in 2014 to bolster its claims to the territory.

The 19-kilometre (12-mile) crossing is a pair of street and rail bridges that Moscow makes use of to move army gear to Ukraine.

Pictures and movies shared on social media appear to point out the extent of the fireplace and the injury. CNBC has not been in a position to independently confirm the authenticity of those stories and pictures.

Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, mentioned the injury was “just the start”, though he didn’t declare Kyiv was accountable.

“Crimea, the bridge, the start. Every part unlawful should be destroyed, every little thing stolen should be returned to Ukraine, every little thing occupied by Russia should be expelled,” Podolyak mentioned through Twitter.

The official Ukrainian authorities Twitter account, in the meantime, appeared to reply to the incident by saying “burn”.

Russian media reported that visitors had been suspended as a result of incident and that emergency companies and visitors personnel had been working on the web site to include the blaze.

“Based on preliminary data, a gas storage tank is on fireplace… The navigable arches haven’t been broken. It’s too early to talk of the causes and penalties. The work to extinguish the fireplace is ongoing,” mentioned Oleg Kryuchko, an assistant to the Russian. mentioned the top of the Crimea occupation through Telegram, in response to the TASS information company.

That is breaking information, please examine again later for extra.