July 22 (Portal) – A drone attack on a munitions depot in Crimea prompted authorities to evacuate a 5 km (3 miles) radius and temporarily suspend road traffic on the bridge linking the peninsula with Russia, the region’s Moscow-based governor said on Saturday.
Ukraine said its army destroyed an oil depot and Russian army warehouses in the so-called “temporarily occupied” Oktiabrske district in central Crimea.
The attack led to the explosion of an ammunition depot, said Russian-installed governor Sergei Aksyonov, adding that there had been no reports of damage or casualties. Footage shared by state media showed a thick cloud of gray smoke at the site.
Russia captured and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, eight years before launching its all-out invasion of the country.
The brief disruption to traffic on the Crimean Bridge, about 180 km (110 miles) east of the drone incident, came five days after explosions there killed two people and damaged a section of the roadway – the second major attack on the bridge since the war began.
The 19 km (12-mile) road and rail bridge is a vital logistics link for Russian forces and is also frequently used by Russian tourists who flock to Crimea in summer.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday the bridge is a legitimate target as it is a military supply route for Russia.
“This is the route that supplies ammunition to war, and it happens every day,” he said.
Russia is on high alert over incidents at the bridge, and an official Telegram channel is urging people not to panic if the alarm goes off.
In another sign of security concerns in Crimea, Oleg Kryuchkov, an adviser to Aksyonov, warned people against posting images of critical infrastructure on the internet.
He urged people who knew the authors of such posts to report them to the Interior Ministry or the FSB security service.
“Remember that video posted on the internet by military or other critical installations is work for the enemy,” he said.
Reporting by Caleb Davis, Mark Trevelyan and Olena Harmash
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