Traffic has been suspended on the Kerch bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia, after a fuel tank caught fire, Russia’s RIA Novosti state news agency said, putting at risk a key supply route for Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

“A fuel tank is on fire on one of the sections of the Crimean bridge,” the agency said on Saturday, citing a regional official, but without stating the cause.

“The shipping arches are not damaged.”

Images shared on social media purported to show fire and damage to the span.

The Tass news agency also reported the fire.

Ukraine’s media reported an explosion at the road and rail bridge. They said the blast happened at about 6am (03:00 GMT).

Al Jazeera could not independently verify the reports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unveiled the bridge in 2018 after Moscow annexed Crimea from Ukraine in violation of international law in 2014.

The fire occurred hours after explosions rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early on Saturday, sending towering plumes of smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.

Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the early-morning explosions were the result of missile strikes in the centre of the city.

He said that the blasts sparked fires at one of the city’s medical institutions and a non-residential building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.

In September, Russia announced the annexation of the provinces of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhia after staging referendums that Kyiv and the West say were phoney exercises held at gunpoint.

Source: Al Jazeera 

BDST: 1337 HRS, OCT 08, 2022
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