Originally published July 17, 2023 7:55 am PDT
In a shocking development that unfolded in Monday’s early hours, the Kerch Strait Bridge was targeted in a “special operation” by Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) and the Ukrainian Navy.
Insider sources from the SBU have confirmed the involvement of the security agencies, according to Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
The explosive attack on Russia’s bridge to Crimea was reportedly carried out using unmanned surface vessels.
The SBU explained the difficult task of reaching the bridge but affirmed the accomplishment, saying, “It was hard to get to the bridge, but this was eventually done.”
The chief of SBU, Vasyl Maliuk, had previously declared the bridge as a legitimate target for Ukraine.
Following the explosion, a section of the Kerch Strait Bridge collapsed around 04:00, leading to the death of at least two people and injury to one.
The couple killed by the Ukrainian drone attack—Aleksey Kulik (40), a truck driver, and his wife Natalya (36), an educator—were residents of Russia’s Belgorod Region, Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov confirmed.
Their orphaned 14-year-old daughter, Angelina, survived the incident but remains in the hospital.
The incident led to substantial disruption, with large queues forming in front of the bridge and a suspension of train traffic.
Russia’s National Antiterrorist Committee (NAK) characterized Ukraine’s attack on the bridge as a “terrorist act.”
Russia also on Monday halted participation in the year-old U.N.-brokered deal which lets Ukraine export grain through the Black Sea, which surrounds Crimea, just hours after the explosion.
However, the Kremlin said there was no link between the attack and its decision to suspend the grain deal, as the agreement was already set to lapse July 17.
“In fact, the Black Sea agreements ceased to be valid today,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “Unfortunately, the part of these Black Sea agreements concerning Russia has not been implemented so far, so its effect is terminated.”
Meanwhile, Russia’s Foreign Ministry is hoping the international community will make an appropriate assessment of the attack.
In a Monday statement, the Russian ministry said it “strongly condemns the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge, which is a purely civilian facility. We expect that the international community and specialized multilateral structures will be principled and render a proper assessment of this latest crime perpetrated by the Ukrainian authorities.”
“Even more cynical and monstrous was the reaction of a number of Ukrainian parliamentarians to the tragedy of the Kulik family. They began mocking simple human grief, thus allowing one to draw conclusions about the level of moral and psychological development of these political figures in Kiev,” the ministry added.
“If the Western origin of the surface drones that attacked the bridge is revealed, as well as the role of Western countries in planning, sponsoring and carrying out this operation, it will confirm their complicity in the Kiev regime’s terrorist activities.”
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky had earlier vowed that the war between his country and Russia will not end as long as Crimea remains under Russian occupation.
“We cannot imagine Ukraine without Crimea. And while Crimea is under the Russian occupation, it means only one thing: the war is not over yet,” Zelensky told CNN.
He said there could “not be victory” without taking Crimea.
In the same interview, the Ukrainian leader talked about “communication with the CIA,” referring to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency: “We discuss important things—what Ukraine needs and how Ukraine is prepared to act,” he said.
Zelensky’s comments about the involvement of the CIA and Russia’s suggestion of Western involvement in the bridge attack raise questions about the Biden administration’s involvement in the matter.
In fact, CIA Director William Burns just last month traveled to Ukraine and met with Zelensky and Ukrainian intelligence officials.
Director Burns has visited Ukraine regularly since the Russia-Ukraine conflict began more than a year ago.
During his most recent trip, “As with other trips, the director met with his Ukrainian intelligence counterparts and President Zelensky, reaffirming the US commitment to sharing intelligence to help Ukraine defend against Russian aggression,” a U.S. official told CNN.
This would not be the first time the Biden admin has been implicated in proxy attacks against Russia.
For example, acclaimed American journalist Seymour Hersh in February detailed how the Biden admin was responsible for the sabotage of Russia’s Nord Stream pipeline.
“Biden’s decision to sabotage the pipelines came after more than nine months of highly secret back and forth debate inside Washington’s national security community about how to best achieve that goal,” Hersh wrote at the time. “For much of that time, the issue was not whether to do the mission, but how to get it done with no overt clue as to who was responsible.”
