MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. The restoration of the railway part of the Crimean Bridge is expected to be completed by the beginning of the summer, Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on the air of the Rossiya-24 TV channel on Thursday.

"The president set the task of [completing] the railway part by July 1, but for now, if the weather does not interfere and there are no other changes, I think, we will launch it [the Crimean Bridge] by the beginning of summer," he said.

Earlier, Khusnullin told reporters that the restoration of the railway part of the bridge is going ahead of schedule. The decision to restore the second railway tracks was made taking into account the prospect of increasing freight traffic towards the Crimean Peninsula and new territories of Russia.

Talking to reporters, Khusnullin also said that President Vladimir Putin had approved the traffic of small trucks and empty trucks on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge.

"I have already reported to the President about this [about the launch of the traffic of small and empty trucks across the Crimean Bridge]. I have received the President's approval," Khusnullin said.

Deputy Prime Minister added that the commission which is in charge for the restoration of the Crimean Bridge will discuss the decision to launch traffic of small trucks and empty trucks across the bridge at its next meeting.

"We will consider this decision at the next [meeting of the] commission. All instructions have been given," Khusnullin said.

However, according to him, it is not yet planned to launch the traffic of large vehicles with a large load across the bridge, since there is a certain risk taking into account the ongoing special military operation.

On October 8, 2022, a truck was blown up on the Crimean Bridge. Several cisterns of a passing truck caught fire. Three people died. Two spans of the automobile part of the bridge towards the peninsula collapsed. Railway traffic on the Crimean Bridge has now been restored. On February 23, motor traffic on both parts of the Crimean Bridge was launched.