Crimea Bridge Blast: Putin Accuses Ukraine Of ‘Terrorist Act', Says 'Aimed To Destruct Critical Infrastructure’

In Kyiv, Ukrainian Presidential advisor Mikhail Podolyak hit back at the claims saying Putin’s accusation “too cynical even for Russia.”

File Photo of Russian President Vladimir Putin

Source : PTI

New Delhi: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday termed the blast on the bridge connecting Russia to its annexed territory of Crimea as a 'terrorist act’ masterminded by Ukrainian special services. “There’s no doubt it was a terrorist act directed at the destruction of the critically important civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation,” said Putin at a meeting with the chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, reported news agency AP.

Moscow claimed that the Kerch Bridge was hit by a truck bomb. Three people were killed in the blast, according to the Russian authorities. Bastrykin informed a criminal investigation had been launched into an act of terror. “We have already established the route of the truck,” he said, saying it had been to Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and Krasnodar, a region in southern Russia. “And the authors, perpetrators, and those who ordered it are the special services of Ukraine,” he added.

The bombing affected road and rail traffic on the bridge temporarily besides damaging a vital supply route for the Kremlin’s forces.

Importance of Kerch Bridge

The bridge holds strategic importance and symbolic value to Russia in its aggression against Ukraine. In May 2018, Putin personally started the Kerch Bridge by driving a truck across it as a symbol of Moscow’s claims on Crimea. The bridge remains a major artery for the port of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is based.

The Institute for the Study of War said the damage from the blast “is likely to increase friction in Russian logistics for some time” but not impact Russia’s ability to equip its troops in Ukraine.

The explosion comes amid battlefield defeats for Russia, and concerns that Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons after Putin in recent weeks repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response.

What Is Ukraine’s Stance?

No one has claimed responsibility for damaging the 12-mile (19-kilometer) bridge, the longest in Europe. Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhail Podolyak in Kyiv hit back at the claims saying Putin’s accusation “too cynical even for Russia.”

“Putin accuses Ukraine of terrorism?” he said. “It has not even been 24 hours since Russian planes fired 12 rockets into a residential area of Zaporizhzhia, killing 13 people and injuring more than 50. No, there is only one state terrorist and the whole world knows who he is,” he added, according to the AP report.

Referring to the missile strikes on the city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, Podolyak said it brought down part of a large apartment building. The six missiles were launched from Russian-occupied areas of the Zaporizhzhia region, the Ukrainian air force said.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called the attacks on civilians in Zaporizhzhia a war crime and urged an international investigation.