Putin Opens Bridge to Crimea, Cementing Russia’s Hold on Neighbor

President Vladimir V. Putin climbed aboard a large orange construction truck on Monday and drove it across a new 12-mile bridge to Crimea, inaugurating his latest megaproject and tightening Moscow’s claim to the disputed territory.

The bridge, finished six months ahead of schedule, established a land link from Russia to the Crimean peninsula, which the Russian military seized from Ukraine in 2014.

“This is a remarkable result, which makes Crimea and legendary Sevastopol even stronger, and all of us are even closer to each other,” Mr. Putin told a crowd of cheering workers after completing the roughly 15-minute drive at the head of a convoy of construction vehicles.

The bridge connects the Crimean city of Kerch, on the eastern coast, to the Russian mainland and is fed by local roads. But the opening was more theatrical than real because the main highways feeding the bridge on both the mainland and across Crimea to Sevastopol in the west, long the headquarters of the Black Sea fleet, remain under construction.

Via: New York Times