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Traffic of commuter trains on Crimean bridge resumed — Russia’s Transport Ministry

From Monday the movement of trains on the Crimean bridge will be carried out according to the schedule

MOSCOW, October 9. /TASS/. The traffic of commuter trains on the Crimean bridge has been resumed after the terrorist attack that occurred the day before, Russia’s Transport Ministry reported on Sunday.

"Colleagues from Russian Railways, together with the Crimean Railway, have been working hard, which made it possible today to start the movement of commuter trains across the Crimean Bridge," Transport Minister Vitaly Savelyev said as by the ministry’s press service.

The ministry said that from Monday the movement of trains on the Crimean bridge will be carried out according to the schedule.

According to the ministry, on Sunday evening the first commuter train left Kerch and crossed the Crimean bridge. A train from Anapa departed from the mainland and has already crossed the bridge.

"I would like to emphasize that all work is being done around the clock in order to provide the population of Crimea and the mainland of Russia with high-quality transport communications as soon as possible, and let carriers use familiar logistics routes for delivering goods to the regions to ensure their livelihoods," the minister concluded.

On Saturday morning, a truck exploded on the Crimean Bridge, collapsing two eastbound parts of its road section and subsequently setting ablaze a train of fuel tanks on a separate, adjacent rail portion of the bridge. As a result of the blast, three people were killed. A government commission chaired by Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin was set up after the incident. Rail traffic has been restored on the bridge, which was also partly reopened for buses and automobiles.

At a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday, head of the Investigative Committee of Russia, Alexander Bastrykin, called the incident a terrorist attack and added that the Ukrainian special services were behind it. Putin stated that the attack was aimed at destroying Russia’s critical civilian infrastructure. Bastrykin said that citizens of Russia and foreign countries helped the Ukrainian special services in preparing the attack. The suspects have been identified, he said.