Vladimir Putin’s Prized Bridge Linking Russia To Crimea Explodes In Massive Fire After Ukraine Threatened Strike – Video

Vladimir Putin’s prized bridge linking Russia to Crimea has exploded in a massive inferno after Ukraine threatened to strike it.

The Kerch bridge exploded in a fireball early on Saturday as a train passed over it.

The Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea exploded in a fireball early on Saturday as a train passed over it

The explosion also took out a section of a road bridge which runs parallel to the stricken rail route – collapsing it into the Black Sea

And the explosion also took out a section of a road bridge which runs parallel to the stricken rail route – collapsing it into the Black Sea.

Extraordinary footage from the scene shows a train – allegedly carrying fuel – engulfed in flames.

Witnesses reported hearing explosions at around 6am local time which could be heard from miles away.

Both the rail and road bridges are hated symbols of Russia’s occupation of Crimea and have been key supply routes through Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

New videos showed the moment the Crimean bridge was rocked by at least one giant explosion.

The clips suggests a truck exploded while on the road section of the bridge as it drove towards Kerch in Crimea.

Russia forcibly took control of Crimea in 2014 and built what is still the longest bridge Moscow has ever built.

The railway span is part of a pair of parallel bridges, crossing the Kerch Strait linking Krasnodar in Russia and Crimea, which was built by Russia after its invasion and annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Some 11 miles long, the road bridge was opened by Russian president Vladimir Putin in 2018, with the railway bridge opening two years later.

Russian sources speculate on an underwater drone being responsible for the attack on the Crimean Bridge – long seen as a prize target by the Ukrainians.

A former British army explosives expert said the incident “is a masterpiece of clandestine sabotage”.

President Zelensky’s office said the explosion was “the beginning”, adding that “everything illegal must be destroyed”.

Pro-Kremlin war reporter Andrey Rudenko said: “What kind of power did the explosion have to for a span of the bridge to go under water?

“It is quite possible to assume that the main explosion was underwater.

“At the beginning of the year, there were reports that the West had supplied Ukraine with underwater kamikaze drones.”

The apparent attack came the day after Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday.

He called for immediate vengeance against Kyiv.

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.

If it is out of action, it will hit Putin’s supply routes to the territory he grabbed eight years ago.

Ukraine in recent days has grown more ambition in predicting they will retake the peninsula.

Photo Credit: Getty