Putin visits the Crimean Bridge after it was partially destroyed in October

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Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Crimean bridge, which was partially destroyed in October, in his first visit to the peninsula, which Moscow annexed in 2014, since the start of the attack on Ukraine, according to Russian media on Monday.

The media broadcast scenes showing Putin driving a car and reporting that the president is on the bridge connecting Ukraine's Crimea with Russian territory.

The bridge over the Kerch Strait was damaged in October by a powerful explosion attributed by the Russian authorities to a truck bomb and accused the Ukrainian intelligence service of being behind it.

The Kremlin said in a statement that Putin "drove (his car) on the road to the Crimean bridge, which was being repaired after the October explosion, and met workers."

He added that Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khosnullin, who appeared on the front seat next to Putin during the flight, "presented a report to the head of state on the progress of the repair work."

This is the first time that the Russian president has visited Crimea, specifically a site directly affected by the war on Ukraine since the start of the Russian war on Ukraine in late February.

The bombing of the Crimean bridge, which resulted in three deaths, shocked Russia.

Targeting such basic infrastructure, so far from the front, was a blow to Moscow.

The bridge, which was built by Putin's order at an exorbitant cost, is used to connect the peninsula with Russian territory, especially for the transportation of military equipment for the Russian army fighting in Ukraine.

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