The Crimean
bridge, the road-to-rail bridge that was engulfed in flames on Saturday
following a deadly explosion, was one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s
pride projects. The president, who turned 70 the same day the bridge went up in
flames, had inaugurated it with great fanfare in 2014, right after Russia
annexed Crimea from Ukraine. Since the beginning of Russia’s war on Ukraine,
the Crimean bridge served to move men and supplies. The absence of access to
the bridge now is bound to have an impact on Moscow’s war effort.

Russia
spent a whopping $3.7 million to build the Crimean bridge. Nineteen-kilometres
long, the bridge spreads over the Kerch Strait. The day it opened, a triumphant
convoy led by Putin himself passed through the bridge. For Putin, this was a
way to connect Russia to Ukraine for ever.

The
Crimean Bridge, Made with Love

The Crimean
Bridge, Made with Love is a romantic comedy centred around the bridge. The screenplay
for the film was written by Margarita Simonyan, head of Russian state-sponsored
broadcasting network RT. The film revolves around two men who work on building
the bridge. Both of them are in love with the same girl, a young, cute archaeology
student.

Ahead of
the film’s release, Simonyan, whose husband Tigran Keosayan directed the film,
said, “It (the film) begins in 1940, during the war, and ends in the current
day, the day of the opening of the bridge. Before I started working on the
script, we travelled several times to the bridge, to take a look, to get to
know the people, to talk to them. Several of them became prototypes for the
characters in the film.”

Celebration
in Ukraine

The
explosion on the Crimean bridge saw Ukrainian leaders celebrate. Oleksiy
Danilov, the head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, shared a
video of the burning bridge alongside and video of Marilyn Monroe singing Happy
Birthday, Mr President.

Russia said
the conditions at the bridge were under control. The Russian Transport Ministry
said the part of the bridge, the railway section, would be restored by Saturday
evening local time.