On Sunday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of orchestrating “a terrorist act aimed at destroying critical civilian infrastructure,” a day after a truck bomb exploded on the Kerch bridge connecting Crimea to mainland Russia, killing three people.
“Ukraine’s special services were the initiators, performers and masterminds,” Putin added during a meeting with the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrikin, who revealed that the truck drove through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, and Krasnodar in southern Russia. Bastrikin also mentioned that “citizens of Russia and foreign countries” assisted the Ukrainian forces.
Putin makes his first comments about the explosion on the bridge to Crimea. He says it's a "terrorist attack aimed at destroying critical Russian civilian infrastructure" and blames "Ukrainian secret services" for it. pic.twitter.com/pqIeVndRis
— max seddon (@maxseddon) October 9, 2022
The Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee claimed that a truck bomb caused seven fuel tanks of a train to catch fire, which led to the “partial collapse of two sections of the bridge.” However, an unnamed former British Army explosives expert told the BBC that the attack may have been carried out by a maritime clandestine drone instead of a truck bomb.
“There are well-founded reports which suggest that the Ukrainians have both surveillance and strike maritime remote-controlled vehicles in service,” he said, adding that it “has been developed over years, not months.”
Russian anti-terror committee says a truck exploded on the bridge, both destroying a section of the motorway and also igniting railway cars filled with fuel. Honestly raises a ton of questions, including how that attack could be timed so perfectly and could a single bomb do it? pic.twitter.com/a0RwDmlDEr
— Andrew Roth (@Andrew__Roth) October 8, 2022
The 19-kilometre-long Crimean bridge, the longest in Europe, serves as a critical route to deliver supplies to Russian forces in the port of Sevastopol in Crimea and is a $4 billion symbol of Russia’s 2014 annexation. However, the Russian Defence Ministry assured that its forces would continue to be “fully supplied” through land and sea routes.
Putin signed an executive order on Saturday authorising the country’s Federal Security Service (FSB) to step up measures to secure the bridge and the main gas pipeline from Krasnodar to Crimea. On the same day, Russian Deputy Prime Minister (PM) Marat Khusnullin assured that the bridge’s repair work would be conducted round the clock and that divers will be organised to check all the supports of the bridge. Though the car and rail routes were suspended on Saturday, they were reopened by Sunday.
Only 3 months ago, Russian propaganda was claiming that the Crimea bridge was impossible to attack because of 20 different modes of protection covering it, including military dolphins (#17) https://t.co/gJdON9o4Vl What a colossal failure pic.twitter.com/70ZrQoKXYb
— Elizabeth Tsurkov🌻 (@Elizrael) October 8, 2022
“Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as is the custom elsewhere in the world. This is what Russian citizens expect,” Russian Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev asserted. The Kremlin also announced a Security Council meeting to be convened on Monday.
Following the attack, the head of the Russian Communist Party, Gennady Zyuganov, declared, “The special operation must be turned into a counterterrorist operation.” Likewise, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the Russian parliament’s lower house, Leonid Slutsky, noted that “consequences will be imminent” for Ukraine if found responsible. Similarly, Just Russia leader Sergei Mironov asserted that Russia should respond by attacking key Ukrainian infrastructure.
Top Zelensky Parliament ally David Arakhamia on Crimea bridge:
— Samuel Ramani (@SamRamani2) October 9, 2022
“Russian illegal construction is starting to fall apart and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, then sooner or later it will explode.”
Though Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the attack publicly, anonymous senior military officials have celebrated the “excellent” operation. “The operation showed the failure of the Russian system to guarantee the security even of the most significant and sacred targets,” an official told the New York Times, adding, “The bridge is an artificial umbilical cord that connects the thief to his stolen property. All that is unnatural and obtained illegally must be and will be destroyed.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, too, referred to the attack indirectly during his nightly address on Saturday, saying, “Today was a good and mostly sunny day on the territory of our state… Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea. Although it is also warm.” He also warned the Russian forces to “flee while they still have a chance.”
The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down.
— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) October 8, 2022
What’s next in line, russkies?
Meanwhile, six Russian missiles destroyed residential buildings in an overnight attack on Zaporizhzhia on Sunday, killing at least 13 and injuring over 60, including 10 children. According to the city council secretary, Anatoliy Kurtev, 20 private homes and 50 buildings were damaged. Zelensky called it a “deliberate strike.” Ukrainian Minister for Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba noted that targeting civilians purposely is a war crime and demanded an international investigation.