Russian state gas producer Gazprom has started direct rail shipments of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) via a new bridge to the Crimea peninsula which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Gazprom executives have said and shipments data showed on Thursday.

Shipments have started via the road-to-rail bridge, whose construction by Russia was opposed by Ukraine and was complicated by European Union sanctions banning European citizens and companies from investing in the annexed peninsula, including its transport and infrastructure.

Gazprom supplied around 2,200 tonnes of LPG via the bridge to Crimea in August, mainly from its Russian plants. The company has not responded to a request for comment.