Cars drive along a bridge, which was constructed to connect the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula across the Kerch Strait, May 16, 2018. (REUTERS PHOTO)

MOSCOW, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Russian Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against a U.S. journalist who proposed blowing up the Crimean Bridge, which links southern Russia and Crimea, the committee said Thursday.

"The article by Tom Rogan, placed in the public domain on the Internet, contains signs of public calls for terrorist activities on the territory of the Russian Federation that have the purpose of destabilizing the activities of its governmental bodies and influencing their decision-making," it said in a statement.

Rogan, in his column published on the Washington Examiner, a U.S. digital magazine, suggested that Ukraine launch air strikes against the 19-km bridge over the Kerch Strait between the Black and Azov seas. Russian President Vladimir Putin officially opened the bridge on Tuesday.

According to the investigative committee, if convicted, the U.S. journalist would face an imprisonment of 10 to 15 years.

It said the committee is also considering opening a case against the editor of the Washington Examiner.

The construction of the Crimean Bridge started in 2015 following the Russian incorporation of the former Ukrainian republic in 2014 and consequent deterioration of relations between Moscow and Kiev.