Russia's Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev commented on the Crimea bridge attack, stating to reporter Nadana Fridrikhson that the bombing "was a terrorist act and sabotage committed by the criminal Kiev regime," stressing that this conclusion was reached after "all reports were presented" and that "there never was any doubt about that."

Medvedev told Fridrikhson that, "Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as is the custom elsewhere in the world," adding that, "this is what Russian citizens expect," as per the interview published on Fridrikhson's Telegram channel.

Read more: Zelensky: We will be returning Crimea by any means

On Saturday morning, a truck was blown up on the motorway section of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula, which caused seven fuel tanks of a train traveling to the Crimean peninsula to go up in flames. Three people died as a result of the explosion, and two motorway sections of the bridge partially collapsed.

Read more: US approves Ukraine strikes on Crimea - reports

Immediately after the incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered that a governmental commission be formed to investigate the explosion of the bridge. According to the Kremlin, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed on October 8 a decree on enhancing security measures for the Crimea bridge, the energy bridge, and the gas pipeline connecting the Crimean peninsula with mainland Russia.

Railway service on damaged Crimean bridge resumes

Russia’s Transport Ministry reported on Sunday that the rail traffic on the bridge connecting Russia to Crimea has now resumed, "Currently, the railway traffic of long-distance passenger and freight trains across the Crimean Bridge proceeds under the statutory schedule," the statement said.

Russia's State Duma: Crimea Bridge blast "declaration of war"

On October 8, Russia’s State Duma stated, "The terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge is no longer just a challenge, but a declaration of war without rules,” while Deputy Oleg Morozov said that the explosion was “a blatant terrorist war is being waged against us," adding that, "If we keep silent in response and do not give an adequate response, such terrorist attacks will multiply.”

This statement comes following a tweet posted by the political advisor to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhailo Podolyak, on the day of the incident, calling the blasting of the Crimea Bridge just "the beginning".  

Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled. pic.twitter.com/yUiSwOLlDP

— Михайло Подоляк (@Podolyak_M) October 8, 2022

Putin blames Ukraine secret services for blast, calls it 'terrorism'

According to Russian President Vladimir Putin, Ukrainian special services authorized and carried out the explosion on the Crimean Bridge, which was a terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia's essential infrastructure.

Following a meeting the Russian President had with Russian investigative chief Alexander Bastrykin to examine the preliminary findings of the inquiry into the Saturday bombing on the Kerch Strait bridge, Putin stated, "as you have just reported, there is no doubt. This is a terrorist attack aimed at destroying the critical civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation," adding that "the authors and executors, those who ordered it are the special services of Ukraine."

Head of Crimean Parliament: Ukrainian vandals reached Crimean bridge with their bloody hands

After the attack on the Crimean bridge, Vladimir Konstantinov, head of the Crimean parliament, said, "Ukrainian vandals managed to reach the Crimean Bridge with their bloody hands. They now have something to be proud of: for 23 years of their management, they failed to build anything worthy of attention in Crimea, but they managed to damage the canvas of the Russian bridge."

"This is the whole essence of the Kiev regime and the Ukrainian state. Death and destruction are the only things of which they are capable," Konstantinov wrote on his Telegram.

On her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova slammed Kiev's statements, saying that Ukraine's reaction to the Crimea Bridge explosion speaks to the "terrorist nature" of its leadership, stating that, "The reaction of the Kiev regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure testifies to its terrorist nature,” as she wrote on Telegram after the blast.