Putin drives across Crimea bridge reopened after October blast

Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, listens to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, left, as he visits the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait, which was damaged by a truck bomb attack in October, after restoration works, not far from Kerch, Crimea, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin, center, listens to Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin, left, as he visits the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait, which was damaged by a truck bomb attack in October, after restoration works, not far from Kerch, Crimea, Monday, Dec. 5, 2022. (Mikhail Metzel, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russian President Vladimir Putin visits a bridge that links Moscow-annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland weeks after the vital link was hit by a blast, images on state television showed.

It is the closest the 70-year-old Russian leader has come to the frontline in Ukraine, after sending troops to the pro-Western country on February 24.

Putin dives a Mercedes across the bridge as Russia re-opened it to traffic following an October blast Moscow blamed on Ukraine.

The Kremlin chief also hears a report from Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin about repair work on the bridge and spoke to construction workers.

In October, the Kerch bridge was partially destroyed in an attack attributed to Ukraine by Moscow.

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