The missile was reportedly intercepted by the Russians on the Crimean side of the bridge (Pictures: Crimea Credit Mash/East2West News)
A Ukrainian missile attack has forced a major crossing linking Russia to annexed Crimea to shut temporarily.
Traffic was halted in both directions of the Kerch Bridge after Russian air forces said they had shot down a rocket in the area.
Ukraine used a ‘modernised missile from an S-200 complex with a range of about 250 miles, the Russian thinktank Rybar reported.
The weapon was downed on the Kerch – or Crimean – side of the 10-mile bridge on Sunday, reports say.
It appears there were no casualties but any damage to the bridge will be seen as a blow to Moscow.
The bridge is largely seen as a vanity project for Vladimir Putin, who ordered the £3 billion crossing to be built after he illegally invaded Crimea in 2014.
It was severely damaged last October when a ‘truck bomb’ blew up and killed at least three people, Russian investigators said at the time.
The missile was shot down with no casualties, the Crimean government said (Picture: Mash/East2West News)
The Kerch Bridge was seriously damaged when a truck exploded while travelling across it last October (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky previously said his government ‘did not order’ the attack but his deputy minister of defence, Hanna Maliar, seemingly admitted responsibility over the weekend.
As part of a list of 12 Ukrainian achievements posted on Telegram, he said: ‘273 days ago, (we) launched the first strike on the Crimean bridge to disrupt Russian logistics.’
Sergey Aksyonov, head of the pro-Russian government in Crimea, said: ‘In the Kerch area, air defence forces shot down a cruise missile. No damage or casualties.
‘I ask everyone to remain calm and rely only on trusted sources of information.’
Russia was already fearful of disgruntled Wagner fighters, who have turned against Putin, would try to destroy the bridge.
The £3 billion, 10-mile bridge was built after Crimea was illegally annexed (Picture: Metro.co.uk)
Last week, tourists heading to the Black Sea peninsula faced severe delays of up to seven hours, as each vehicle was subject to strict security checks.
Guards went to extremes, which included sending children to get x-rays and inspecting every single section of the cars, such as the glove compartments, according to citizen information service InformNapalm.
Now, Russian war channels are discussing the possibility the Ukrainian military will set its sights on the bridge again.
Kyiv previously made a video targeted at Russians planning holidays in Crimea, warning them to ‘stay away’.
The slightly bizarre clip, which was released by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence, starts with the question: ‘Big plans this summer?’
It begins like a budget ad with grainy clips of surfers in the water, with captions that read: ‘A travel advisory is in effect for certain beaches.
’We warned you last summer to stay away from Crimea.’
The video then suddenly cuts to images of explosions and tourists fleeing missile attacks. A Russian woman is also shown crying in the back of a car.
‘Our seasonal forecast calls for stormy weather,’ it warns finally before ending with lightning.
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