RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin has vowed to retaliate after a Ukrainian attack on a bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to Russia killed two civilians.

“Of course, there will be a response from Russia. The defence ministry is preparing relevant proposals,” he said in televised remarks.

Putin denounced a “terror attack” and called for tougher security measures after the explosion.

“Another terrorist attack was committed on the bridge last night. I am waiting for specific proposals to improve the security of this strategic, important transport facility.”

Russia said earlier that the attack on the Moscow-built bridge linking annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland killed a civilian couple and wounded their child.

Moscow said two drones had hit the bridge in the early hours of Monday and blamed “the Kyiv regime.”

Traffic on the bridge was halted and officials advised stranded holidaymakers to get back to Russia through occupied Ukraine.

It is the second attack on the bridge, a personal project of President Vladimir Putin, during the Kremlin’s 18-month long Ukraine offensive.

“Two civilians died: a man and a woman, driving a car on the bridge,” the Russian Investigative Committee said.

“Their daughter, a minor, was wounded.”

The committee said two drones attacked the structure at night, describing it as a “terrorist” attack.

It added it was working to “establish the persons from Ukrainian special services and armed formations involved in the organisation and execution of this crime.”

Holidaymakers

Commercial flights to Moscow-annexed Crimea have been suspended after the start of the offensive in Ukraine, and most Russian tourists usually drive to Crimea over the bridge.

With traffic jams building up, officials suggested tourists drive 400 kilometres through territories held by the Russian army, some of which are seriously affected by fighting.

“I ask residents and guests of the peninsula to refrain from travel on the Crimea bridge and with the aim of safety choose an alternative overland route through the new regions,” said the Moscow-installed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksyonov.

Russian state television aired a map of the route, which goes through occupied Melitopol to the port of Mariupol and ends in the southern Russian city of Rostov.

It reminded people to take their passports with them.

Officials in occupied Ukraine said they would reduce curfew times to let tourists through and that the Russian army would increase security.

“Safety is ensured by the Russian army, it will be strengthened,” said Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed head of the section of Ukraine’s southern Kherson region that is controlled by Moscow.

He said he had “minimised” the curfew to “let the transit transport through”.

Saldo warned that there would be checkpoints that are in place to avoid “sabotage” but that formalities will be “reduced”.

The RIA Novosti news agency reported that there were some 50,000 tourists holidaying in Crimea and that most had come by car.

The broadcaster published a video of cars lining up from Crimea to the occupied Kherson region for several kilometres.