Putin drives across Crimea bridge in a Mercedes

MOSCOW - President Vladimir Putin on Monday drove a Mercedes across the Crimean Bridge linking southern Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, less than two months after an explosion tore through one of his showcase infrastructure projects.

The 19km road and rail bridge, which was opened by Mr Putin in 2018,

was bombed in October in an attack

that Russia said was carried out by Ukraine.

Mr Putin, accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, was shown on state television behind the wheel of a Mercedes, asking questions about where the attack took place.

“We are driving on the right-hand side,” Mr Putin said as he drove across the bridge. “The left side of the bridge, as I understand it, is in working condition, but nevertheless it needs to be completed. It still suffered a little, we need to bring it to an ideal state.” He also walked along parts of the bridge to inspect sections still visibly scorched.

Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the bombing of the bridge on the morning of Oct 8, a day after Mr Putin’s 70th birthday. Russia’s Federal Security Service said the attack was organised by Ukrainian military intelligence.

The explosion wrecked one section of the road bridge, temporarily stopping traffic across the Kerch Strait. The blast also destroyed several fuel tankers on a train heading towards the annexed Crimean peninsula from southern Russia.

Russia in 2014 annexed Crimea, which was transferred from Soviet Russia to Soviet Ukraine in 1954 by then Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev and recognised by Russia in 1994 after the collapse of the USSR.

Ukraine has vowed to take back Crimea, which relies on the bridge for supplies.

The bridge, Europe’s longest, was built by the company of Mr Putin’s ally Arkady Rotenberg. The Russian leader has long lauded the project, boasting at one point that Russian czars and Soviet leaders had dreamed of building it but never did. REUTERS