Crimea traffic jam

Hundreds of trucks were on Wednesday waiting for ferries to cross the Kerch Strait, days after an explosion caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia.

While traffic for passenger cars and trains resumed over the bridge, freight transport has to either use a ferry to leave Crimea or travel by the mainland through Mariupol and other Ukrainian territories claimed by Russia as its own.

According to truck drivers waiting for the ferries at the former Kerch aerodrome, there has hardly been any movement since Sunday, and many are faced with the prospect of waiting at least another four days, authorities have told them. The 19-kilometer bridge, on a strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, is a symbol of Moscow's claim on Crimea and an essential link to the peninsula.

The $3.6 billion bridge, the longest in Europe, is vital to sustaining Russia's military operations in southern Ukraine. Putin himself presided over the bridge's opening in 2018.