The newly-opened bridge linking Crimea and Russia carries traffic both ways, but the political divide its construction has come to symbolize is most apparent to those who call the territorially contested peninsula home.
As Russian President Vladimir Putin led the televised, inaugural crossing of the controversial span on Tuesday—ensconced in the cab of a bright-orange, (partly) Russian-made Kamaz dump truck to emphasize the new route’s commercial promise—senior members of the Mejlis, the self-governing body of Crimean Tatars that Russia outlawed upon its annexation, saw a very different image.
“The bridge is Putin’s image-boosting project for the sake of his electorate in Russia,” …read more
Source: Voice of America
