Russia says three killed by Crimea bridge explosion

Shafaq News/ A massive blast on Russia's bridge to Crimea has killed three people, investigators say.

The Russian investigators said the victims were nearby the bombed car, bringing down sections of the bridge's roadway.

Russia says the railway part of the bridge - where oil tankers caught fire - will reopen this evening.

Ukraine's defense ministry compared the bridge explosion to the sinking of Russia's Moskva missile cruiser in April.

"Two notorious symbols of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea have gone down," it tweeted. "What's next in line?"

The Russian foreign ministry said: "The Kiev [Kyiv] regime's reaction towards the destruction of civilian infrastructure is a testament to its terrorist nature."

Russia has used the bridge to move military equipment, ammunition, and personnel from Russia to battlefields in southern Ukraine.

Ukrainian authorities said it was a legitimate target, as they vow to retake the peninsula.

Crimean parliamentary speaker Vladimir Konstantinov blamed the explosion on "Ukrainian vandals, who have finally managed to reach their bloody hands to the Crimean bridge."

He added the damage to the bridge would be "promptly restored since it is not serious."

Russian President Vladimir Putin has been briefed about the "emergency" on the bridge and has ordered a government inquiry, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. A criminal investigation is also underway.

The bridge is the longest in Europe and was hailed by Russian media as "the construction of the century."