Ukraine is behind the Saturday blast that destroyed two sections of the only bridge linking Crimea to Russia, according to an unnamed NYT source.
That the Times is casting Ukraine as the perpetrator of the explosion is significant because the news org’s reporting is more often favorable toward Ukraine and critical of Russia, meaning the information is likely trustworthy.
From The New York Times:
The blast and fire sent part of the 12-mile Kerch Strait Bridge tumbling into the sea and killed at least three people, according to the Russian authorities. A senior Ukrainian official corroborated Russian reports that Ukraine was behind the attack. The official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of a government ban on discussing the blast, added that Ukraine’s intelligence services had orchestrated the explosion, using a bomb loaded onto a truck being driven across the bridge. ... While there were no official claims of responsibility, Ukrainian officials, who in the past have said the bridge would be a legitimate target for a strike, indicated that the explosion was no accident and made no secret of their satisfaction. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday. “Everything illegal, must be destroyed. Everything stolen returned to Ukraine. All Russian occupiers expelled.” Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, the Security Service of Ukraine, known by its Ukrainian acronym S.B.U., issued a statement rephrasing a stanza of a poem by Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko. “Dawn, the bridge is burning beautifully,” the agency posted on Twitter. “A nightingale in Crimea meets the S.B.U.” President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine seemed to allude to the attack when he noted in his nightly address that Saturday “was a good and mostly sunny day” in Ukrainian territory. “Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea,” he said.
In response, Russia launched rocket strikes against Ukraine on Monday.
From RT:
A rocket barrage that targeted Ukrainian military objects and infrastructure has accomplished its goal, the Russian Defense Ministry claimed on Monday. The attack came after Moscow accused Kiev of orchestrating a deadly explosion on the strategic Crimean Bridge. Speaking at a regular briefing, Lieutenant General Igor Konashenkov noted that Russia had used high-precision and long-range weapons to hit objects on Ukrainian territory, including “military command facilities, communications and energy systems.” “The goal of the strike has been achieved. All designated objects have been hit,” he noted. His comments came hours after Russia struck multiple targets in Kiev, with the city’s Mayor Vitaly Klitschko claiming that “critical infrastructure” had been affected. The attack also apparently hit Vladimirskaya Street, where the main office of the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) is based, according to Anton Gerashchenko, an adviser to the interior minister. Apart from Kiev, several other Ukrainian cities were targeted, including Dnepr in east of the country, and Lviv in the west. Following the strikes, Ukrainian authorities reported blackouts in Lviv, Poltava, Sumy, Kharkov and Ternopol Regions, adding that in other parts of the country power supply had been partially disrupted.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more retaliation in kind.
From TASS:
Russia will respond toughly, if the Kiev regime continues attempts to carry out terror attacks on Russian territory, President of Russia Vladimir Putin said on Monday. "If attempts continue to carry out terror attacks on our territory, Russia’s responses will be tough and by their scope correspond to the level of threats created for the Russian Federation," the head of state said at a meeting with members of Russia’s Security Council. "No one must have any doubts about that," Putin stressed. By its acts, the Kiev regime has put itself on a par with international terrorist organizations and, therefore, these crimes simply cannot be left unanswered, the Russian leader said. As Putin said, "this morning, at the suggestion of the Defense Ministry and under a plan of the Russian General Staff, a massive strike by Russia’s long-range air-, sea- and ground-based precision weapons was delivered against Ukrainian energy, military command and communications facilities." The president instructed the defense minister "to report on the results."
