Partial road traffic opened on one lane of the Crimean Bridge late on Monday, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said on his Telegram channel.

"Motor transport on the Crimean Bridge has been restored in reverse mode on the most outer right lane," Khusnullin wrote on Monday.

However, ferry operations were suspended early on Tuesday due to bad weather, Russian agencies reported, citing the Moscow-backed emergency situations ministry of Crimea.

The attack on Monday left two people dead and one injured. Moscow has blamed Ukraine for the incident, although Kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Monday that his Defense Ministry was preparing proposals for a response to the attack that damaged the road bridge linking Crimea to southern Russia.

At the end of a televised video meeting with national and regional officials to assess the consequences of the attack, Putin called it a cruel and senseless act, saying the bridge "has not been used for military transportation for a long time."

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday that the U.S. is monitoring the situation with the Crimean Bridge, while the UK rejected accusations by Russia on Monday that British intelligence services might have been involved in the attack, saying it is "baseless speculation from Russia."

The attack on Monday was similar to one in October 2022 that put both the road and rail bridges out of action for a time.

The latest attack coincided with the summer holiday season, and it created long traffic jams on the remaining road route out of Crimea and severe train delays on the railway. Besides, the ferry crossing was also affected.

Khusnullin said on Monday that road traffic would resume in one direction by September 15, with road traffic in both directions restored by November 1.

(With input from Reuters)