UPDATE - 2 people dead, 1 injured in Crimea bridge 'explosion', Russia says

UPDATES WITH STATEMENTS FROM RUSSIA AND UKRAINE, HEADLINE AND DECK CHANGED

By Burc Eruygur

ISTANBUL (AA) – At least two people were killed and another was injured in a blast early Monday at the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to the Crimean Peninsula that Moscow illegally annexed in 2014.

Reversing two senior Russian officials' earlier statements that the casualties were the result of an "emergency," Russia's Investigative Committee announced that it was a "terrorist attack" and that a criminal investigation has been launched into the incident.

In an early morning statement, Vladimir Konstantinov, the head of the pro-Russian State Council of Crimea, claimed on Telegram that Ukraine "attacked" the Kerch Bridge.

However, Sergey Aksyonov, the Russian-installed head of Crimea, later announced on Telegram that traffic at the Kerch Bridge had stopped and that an “emergency” had occurred in the area.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov also stated on Telegram that the incident occurred due to an "emergency" situation.

"This morning, we all started with information about the emergency that happened on the Crimean bridge. What information is available at the moment: a girl was moderately injured … The hardest thing is that her parents died, dad and mom," he stated.

The girl is under the supervision of doctors and will be immediately transported to the Belgorod region once doctors permit it, Gladkov added.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian media outlets such as Ukrinform and RBK-Ukraine reported, citing "unknown" sources in the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) that the SBU and the Ukrainian Navy were behind the Kerch Bridge explosion.

However, Ukrainian officials have not yet responded to the claim, and independent verification of Russia's claims is difficult due to the ongoing war.