"Terrorist regime," was the succinct response of Russia’s Foreign Ministry to Ukrainian deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar’s admission that Kiev had carried out the attack on the Crimean Bridge in autumn of 2022.
“273 days since we struck the first blow on the Crimean Bridge to disrupt the logistics of the Russians,” Maliar had written on Telegram on Saturday.
"Now they have embarked on a plan for ‘their own salvation’- systematic infliction of damage to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant," added Maria Zakharova, the official spokeswoman of the Russian Foreign Ministry, in a Telegram post.
Previously, a huge threat of a sabotage at the ZNPP from Kiev amid its stuttering counteroffensive was emphasized by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Ukrainian Special Services Ordered, Concocted and Carried Out Terror Attack on Crimean Bridge: Putin
9 October 2022, 17:27 GMT
Up until now, the Kiev regime has refused to claim responsibility for the attack on the 19-km long bridge - the longest in Europe and connecting the Crimean peninsula and mainland Russia's Krasnodar region. Crimea reunited with Russia in March 2014 after a referendum in which over 96% of the peninsula's voters said “yes” to reunification. The bridge was opened by Russia's President Vladimir Putin in May 2018.
Immediately after the attack, Russian authorities announced a series of measures to repair damage and ensure stable transport ties between Crimea and Krasnodar Territory. Putin signed a decree Saturday night to step up security for transport crossing through the Kerch Strait, as well as electricity and energy infrastructure in the area.
At the time, Ukrainian officials, including President Volodymyr Zelensky, hinted at Kiev's responsibility for the terrorist incident in a series of meme-riddled posts on social media. Presidential advisor Mykhailo Podolyak had gloated that the attack on the bridge was just "the beginning" and that "everything illegal must be destroyed" and "everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine."
Two senior Ukrainian officials also purportedly told the New York Times that Ukrainian intelligence were behind the attack on the bridge.
Crimean Bridge Attack: Ukraine’s Sabotage Teams Take Orders From Washington, Senior Official Reveals
10 October 2022, 18:23 GMT
Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) stated a week after the attack that the Ukrainian Defense Ministry's Main Intelligence Directorate was behind the explosion.The FSB also said that “the explosive device was camouflaged in rolls with a construction polyethylene film and was shipped from the [Ukrainian] seaport of Odessa to Bulgaria's Ruse in early August”
According to the FSB, control over the movement of cargo along the entire route and contacts with participants in the criminal scheme had been carried out by an Ukrainian Main Intelligence Directorate employee.
Russia launched a series of missile strikes deep into Ukraine in the wake of the bridge attack after confirming Ukrainian special forces’ involvement. The strikes targeted Ukrainian energy infrastructure and military command and communications posts across the country.