MOSCOW, July 26. /TASS/. The Russian government has extended the deadline for repairing the Crimean bridge until December 31, 2023, the cabinet said in a decree, uploaded to Russia’s official database of legislative information.

In October 2022, the government appointed Nizhneangarsktransstroy LLC as the sole contractor for Crimean Bridge repairs. The company may choose partners on the condition that it performs at least 50% of the work on its own.

The Crimean Bridge connects the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea to the Taman Peninsula in the Krasnodar region. The bridge passes along the dam and the island of Tuzla, crosses the Kerch Strait (between the Azov and Black Seas), skirting Cape Ak-Burun from the north, and enters to the Crimean coast in Kerch. The transport crossing with a total length of 19 km consists of parallel automobile and railway routes. The bridge was built after the reunification of Crimea with Russia, automobile traffic was launched on May 15, 2018.

Two Ukrainian seaborne drones attacked the Crimean Bridge on the night of July 17, leaving two adults dead and a child injured. Damage was done to the bridge’s roadway. Railway and contra-flow car traffic along one lane was resumed. Motor traffic along both lanes of the bridge is expected to be resumed by November 1.