Russia Finishes Construction of Longest Bridge in Europe, Defies International Community with New Link to Crimea

By Yahoo. President Vladimir Putin drew condemnation from the US, Europe and Ukraine on Tuesday after he opened a new bridge linking mainland Russia and Moscow-annexed Crimea by driving a truck across it to the peninsula.

Putin dressed in jeans and a casual jacket was shown by Russian state television behind the wheel of a construction truck to drive 19 kilometres (12 miles) across the bridge, which links the Taman peninsula in southern Russia to Ukraine’s Crimea, which was annexed by Moscow in 2014.

“I want to sincerely congratulate you with this remarkable, festive and, in the full sense of the word, historic day,” Putin told workers upon arrival on the Crimean side of the bridge.

“In different historical eras, even under the tsar, people were dreaming of building this bridge,” Putin told cheering workers.

He was referring to Russia’s last tsar, Nicholas II, who first proposed such a bridge, but the outbreak of World War I prevented it going ahead. (Read more from “Russia Finishes Construction of Longest Bridge in Europe, Defies International Community with New Link to Crimea” HERE)

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Vladimir Putin Celebrated the Controversial Opening of Russia’s Bridge to Crimea by Driving a Truck over It – Without Wearing a Seat Belt

By Business Insider. Russian President Vladimir Putin drove Kamaz truck across a new, controversial bridge to Crimea without wearing a seat belt – which is against the law in Russia, according to a reporter from The Atlantic.

The new bridge from Russia to the annexed peninsula Crimea opened on Tuesday six months ahead of schedule. But several in the Russian media noticed that Putin was driving the truck across the bridge without his seat belt buckled.

(Read more from “Vladimir Putin Celebrated the Controversial Opening of Russia’s Bridge to Crimea by Driving a Truck over It – Without Wearing a Seat Belt” HERE)

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