Defendant in Kerch Strait bridge attack case detained in Crimea
The arrest of Vladimir Zloba, a defendant in the Crimea Bridge explosion, was confirmed by his mother.
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The defendant in the Kerch Strait bridge attack case was detained in Crimea. (AP)
Vladimir Zloba's mother confirmed to Sputnik that her son had been imprisoned in Crimea. Vladimir Zloba is a defendant in the explosion case involving the Crimean Bridge (Kerch Strait Bridge).
"He took his family to Russia, to Crimea. He supports Russia, he said that finally, stability would come. The family is at home, he is sitting waiting at the base, and then they took the guy away and are making such claims… How can it be that a collective farmer… what is he, a terrorist or something?" Zloba’s mother, Vera, who believes her son is innocent, said.
She added that her son, who had been engaged in the transportation and sale of grain grown by local farmers, has been detained in Crimea. The mother stated that he had relocated to Crimea on March 13 after the launch of Russia's special operation.
The son of Roman Solomko, another defendant in the Crimean Bridge explosion case, confirmed to Sputnik in October that his father had been jailed in Crimea. He went on to say that his father had been to Georgia to pay for a customs broker and declare cargo, and that all formal documentation had been properly filed.
A Sputnik correspondent visited Vladimir Zloba's native village in the Kherson region, where a coworker and neighbor said Zloba had business contacts with Solomko because they were both involved in grain sales.
Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) stated on October 12 that the organizer of the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge was the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense's Main Intelligence Directorate.
Read next: Russian committee confirms Ukraine involvement in Crimea bridge attack
Ukrainian, Georgian, and Armenian citizens were involved in the transfer of the package, which contained the explosive device, from Bulgaria to the Georgian port of Poti and subsequently to Armenia. Several Russian, Ukrainian, and Armenian citizens who helped plan the terrorist act have been arrested.
On October 8, a truck exploded on the Crimean Bridge, igniting seven gasoline tanks on a freight train. The road bridge's two spans partially collapsed. The incident claimed the lives of four persons.
Russian President Vladimir Putin described the explosion on the Crimean Bridge as a terrorist attack intended to harm civilian infrastructure.
