Unsurprisingly, warring factions Russia and Ukraine are blaming each other for the Crimean bridge explosion. When a truck detonated on Saturday morning and destroyed parts of the building, the president of the regional parliament deployed by Russia in Crimea spoke of a hit by “Ukrainian vandals”. In the afternoon, Kyiv responded: “It’s worth noting that, according to all indications, the truck that exploded drove onto the bridge from the Russian side. So the answers should be sought in Russia,” said Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak.
According to Russian sources, three people died in the accident and seven tank wagons of a freight train caught fire. Traffic resumed on the bridge in the afternoon. The owner of the truck could be identified according to Russian information. Russian investigators said it was a resident of the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, without naming the man. Accordingly, investigations were initiated at his residence, the documented route of the truck will be checked.
For the leadership in Moscow, the Crimean Bridge is both a prestige building and an important supply route. It was repeatedly emphasized that it was safe despite the military offensive, and the Kremlin threatened serious reactions in the event of an attack. It is therefore all the more astonishing that Russia’s President Vladimir Putin is silent on the alleged attack. Such an appearance is not planned in the coming days either, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the state news agency Ria Novosti.
In Ukraine, the images of the destroyed bridge were greeted with jubilation. “Crimea. The bridge. The beginning,” wrote Presidential Advisor Podoliak. “Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine.” He did not explicitly say that Ukraine was responsible for the explosion and fire. A few hours later he presented the attack as a competition between the Russian army and the FSB secret service. The FSB was trying to replace the army leadership and was now suddenly struck down because it had overslept the attack on the bridge. “Isn’t it obvious who caused the explosion?” Podoljak said in a conspiracy-theoretical manner.
