Vladimir Putin has opened a bridge between southern Russia and Crimea, tightening Russia’s hold over the contested peninsula, which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.

The controversial Crimean Bridge links the southern Krasnodar region with the Crimean city of Kerch and spans across a stretch of water between the Black Sea and the Azov Sea.

Putin drove the Russian-made KAMAZ dump truck in a convoy of vehicles across the 19-kilometre bridge over the Kerch Strait.

The project cost approximately $3.7 billion and will become the longest bridge in Europe, taking over the Vasco da Gama Bridge in Lisbon, Portugal.