Road traffic partially restored on Crimean Bridge after attack – Russian deputy PM

MOSCOW (Reuters) -Road traffic was re-opened on one lane of the Crimean Bridge late on Monday following what Russia called a Ukrainian “terrorist attack” that damaged the structure, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said.

Khusnullin said the lane was being used for vehicles going from the town of Taman in southern Russia to Kerch in Crimea.

“Motor transport on the Crimean Bridge has been restored in reverse mode on the most outer right lane,” Khusnullin wrote on his official Telegram channel.

A Russian couple was killed and their 14-year-old daughter wounded on Monday in what Moscow said was a Ukrainian attack that knocked out the road part of the bridge linking Russia to the Crimean Peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the attack.

The incident has complicated plans for Russian tourists for whom Crimea is traditionally a major destination. State media on Monday broadcast images of long traffic jams as Russian tourists dashed home by driving through parts of southern Ukraine controlled by Russian forces.

Ferry operations from southern Russia to Crimea were suspended early on Tuesday, due to bad weather, Russian news agencies reported, further crimping capacity.

(Reporting by Andrew Osborn in Moscow and Lidia Kelly in Melbourne; editing by Jonathan Oatis, Kim Coghill and Christina Fincher)

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