Putin signs decree to enhance security of Crimea bridge

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree on enhancing security measures for the Crimea bridge as well as for the energy bridge and the gas pipeline connecting the peninsula with mainland Russia, the Kremlin said in a statement on Saturday.

"The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation shall be vested with the authority to organize and coordinate protection measures for the Kerch Strait transport crossing, the power grid’s energy bridge between the Russian Federation and the Crimean Peninsula, along with the main gas pipeline between the Krasnodar Region and Crimea, during their operation," the document said.

According to the decree, this is done to enhance the efficiency of protection measures for the transport crossing, the energy bridge and the gas pipeline across the Kerch Strait.


The Russian government is commissioned to update their executive orders in accordance with the decree, which entered into force on the day it was signed.

On Saturday morning, a truck exploded on the Crimea bridge, setting fuel tanks of a passing-by freight train ablaze. Three people were killed and two sections of the bridge’s road part collapsed. The part of the bridge connecting Crimea with the Krasnodar Region was not reportedly damaged.

The traffic on the bridge was completely stopped, but after 04.00 p.m. Moscow time it was partly reopened for buses and automobiles. The first test run on the rails came off successfully. A government commission chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin was set up after the episode.