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Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Crimean bridge that was hit by a truck bomb in October. The Russian president drove a Mercedes across the Kerch Bridge, which connects occupied Crimea to mainland Russia, after the Oct. 8 blast, which was badly damaged.
Vladimir Putin blamed Ukraine for a strike on the bridge a day after his 70th birthday. The blast destroyed a section of the road bridge, temporarily halting traffic across the Kerch Strait.
After the blast, Russia retaliated with a series of deadly missile attacks on Ukrainian cities. The destruction marks a blow to Russia, as the Kerch bridge provides a supply route for Russian troops in Ukraine and is the only direct link between Russia and the Crimean peninsula’s transport network.
read more: Vladimir Putin ‘falls down stairs, gets himself dirty’ at mansion: report
Like other Western automakers, Mercedes stopped selling cars to Russia and halting production at its assembly plant near Moscow after Russia began its invasion of Ukraine.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Vladimir Putin was not trying to make a political point by driving a Mercedes instead of a Russian-made Auris sedan, and said the president simply used available cars.
While driving, Vladimir Putin discussed the restoration of the Crimean bridge with Marat Khusnullin, the deputy prime minister in charge of the project, in an exchange shown on Russian television .
The president also spoke with workers involved in repairing the bridge.
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