Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee says that a truck was blown up on the Kerch Bridge, early Saturday connecting Russia with Crimea, according to Russia’s official
RIA Novosti news agency. A Crimea official blamed the attack on “Ukrainian vandals.”
RIA Novosti quoted from a message from the anti-terrorism committee:
According to the
NAC , two car spans of the crossing were partially collapsed.
The arch above the land part of the bridge was not damaged.
As previously stated by the Crimean authorities, there were no casualties.
According to the head of the regional parliament
Vladimir Konstantinov , the damage is not severe, the consequences of the emergency will soon be eliminated.
Traffic on the bridge has been suspended, navigation in the strait continues. The authorities prepared a ferry crossing for launch, and opened two temporary parking lots for motorists near the village of Ilyich and at the Taman-Volna junction in the Krasnodar Territory.
In a separate report, RIA Novosti said that Vladimir Konstantinov, the head of the Crimean parliament, said the Crimean bridge was damaged by “Ukrainian vandals.”
"Ukrainian vandals still managed to reach out with their bloody hands to the Crimean bridge. Now they have something to be proud of: for 23 years of their management they have not managed to build anything worthy of attention in Crimea, but they managed to damage the canvas of the Russian bridge. This is the whole essence of the Kyiv regime and of the Ukrainian state. Death and destruction is the only thing they can do," Konstantinov wrote in his Telegram channel.
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"The causes of the incident will be sorted out, the damage will be promptly restored, since they are not of a serious nature," Konstantinov wrote in his Telegram channel.
This is quite extraordinary because Russian media is claiming that Ukraine was responsible for the attack on the bridge which comes a day after Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday.
Ukrainska Pravda, citing a souce in Ukrainian law enforcement agencies, said the explosion on the Kerch Bridge was a special operation carried out by the Security Service of Ukraine.
At the same time, the Security Service of Ukraine has not yet officially commented on its participation in the bridge attack.
The independent Russian news outlet, Meduza, now operating out of Latvia reported on how the Kremlin is trying to spin the attack on the bridge.
Vladimir Putin’s administration has sent out guidelines to media and government agencies for covering the explosion. They include:
- Emphasizing that the bridge was not destroyed, only the roadbed on both car and railway parts was damaged
- Preparations to repair the bridge have already begun
- The Ministry of Transport is launching new logistics routes
- The Kerch ferry has resumed service
Judging by reporting from RIA Novosti, TASS, and the majority of Russian media outlets, the administration’s recommendations are being followed.
This is what Meduza had to say about how Russian authorities have responded to the attack:
Vladimir Putin has instructed his cabinet to create a government commission “in connection with the emergency on the Crimean bridge,” his press secretary announced, adding that officials currently cannot estimate the time needed to return the bridge to working order. Russia’s Federal Investigative Committee is treating the incident as a potential criminal act.
Russian Senator Alexander Bashkin told state journalists that Moscow will answer the apparent attack on the Crimean Bridge with a “possibly asymmetric response.” Duma deputy Oleg Morozov, meanwhile, said the “terrorist attack” on the bridge is tantamount to a “declaration of war without rules.”
Ukrainian authorities have repeatedly said that the bridge could be hit. In August, Mykhailo Podolyak, a senior Ukrainian presidential aide, said that Ukrainian authorities consider the bridge a legitimate military target since it is the main supply route for the Russian army on the Crimean peninsula. Dmitry Marchenko, major general of the UAF said that the bridge was “target number one for destruction for the Ukrainian military as soon as they got the technical ability to strike it.
After Saturday’s explosion, Podolyak tweeted:
Meanwhile, Alexei Danilov, secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, released a video showing the burning Kerch bridge with Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mr. President.”
Monroe sang the song to President John F. Kennedy in 1962 at a celebration of his 45th birthday.
Danilov said, “Good morning, Ukraine.”
The Kerch Bridge was constructed after Russia’s annexation at Crimea and opened to traffic in May 2018. It was one of Moscow’s biggest infrastructure investments in the occupied peninsula.