Russia imposes food purchase restrictions in Crimea amid "supply depletion concerns"

On the morning of the 8th (local time), a helicopter is seen extinguishing a fire at the Crimean Bridge where a vehicle explosion occurred. The explosion caused part of the vehicle bridge on the Crimean Bridge to collapse, and the fire spread to a freight train carrying oil on the adjacent railway bridge, resulting in a large fire. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Following the explosion accident on the Crimean Bridge (Kerch Strait Bridge) connecting the Crimean Peninsula, occupied by Russia in 2014, and the Russian mainland, Russia has imposed restrictions on purchasing food products in the Crimean Peninsula.

According to TASS news agency on the 8th (local time), the Crimean Peninsula administration stated after the accident that "there is enough food in the market and retail stores are operating normally," adding that "food and basic daily necessities can be supplied for 55 days."

However, it added, "To prevent artificial disruption in the market, customers can only purchase up to 3 kg of food products per person."

The Russian Ministry of Energy said in a Telegram statement, "There is currently sufficient vehicle fuel in the Crimean Peninsula," and "the supply of gasoline and diesel fuel in the Crimean Peninsula can be maintained for at least 15 days." It further explained that "work is underway to ensure more fuel supply."

Although there have been repeated statements that the damage to the bridge is not severe, the exact restoration timeline is difficult to estimate.

Sergey Aksyonov, head of the Crimean administration, said that the vehicle bridge was damaged in only one direction, and the other direction was not damaged, but traffic has been temporarily suspended to assess the damage.

Vladimir Konstantinov, chairman of the Crimean parliament, said, "The damage is not severe and repairs can be made soon." However, videos and photos from the site show that one side of the two-way vehicle bridge has collapsed in two places over several tens of meters, and the railway bridge also shows sections of several tens of meters completely burned or bent due to fire.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said, "A government committee to investigate the accident and oversee restoration work will be formed as soon as possible under the president's directive," adding, "Once the ongoing damage investigation is completed, we will know how long the restoration will take."

The Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee announced at 6:07 a.m. that a bomb exploded on a truck passing over the vehicle bridge of the Crimean Bridge. As a result, part of the vehicle bridge collapsed, and a fire broke out on the adjacent railway bridge, spreading to a freight train carrying oil heading to the Crimean Peninsula, causing a large fire.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.