Ukrainian drones behind Crimea bridge attack unveiled by CNN
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CNN claims it has gotten access to a secret Ukrainian navy facility that was used to lay the setting for an attack on the Crimea Bridge earlier this month.
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Smoke and flames rise from the Crimean Bridge connecting the Russian mainland and the Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait in Crimea on October 8, 2022. (AP)
CNN has managed to acquire unprecedented access to a secret Ukrainian navy facility that was used to lay the setting for a marine drone attack on the Crimean Bridge earlier this month, which resulted in the deaths of two people. A mother and father were killed and their daughter was critically injured by the explosions, according to Russian officials.
According to CNN on Sunday, Ukrainian officials went to considerable measures to hide facts about the installation, which it claimed was located on the banks of a "secret lake". Their reporters, however, were still permitted to film the marine drones.
The inventor of the drones, who requested anonymity, told CNN that work on the boats started only after the war in Ukraine began in February 2022, adding that they were developed and manufactured in Kiev.
CNN characterized the drones as five-meter-long boats weighing up to 1,000kg with an explosive payload of up to 300kg, an 800km range, and a high speed of 80kph. It went on to say that these drones are "increasingly allowing Ukrainians to attack and surveil Russians in the Black Sea and on the Crimean peninsula."
The network explained that Kiev deployed drones to strike the Crimean Bridge and the port city of Sevastopol in October.
CNN also provided POV footage from one of the sea drones as it attempted to approach a Russian battleship under heavy fire.
The Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), in a revelation that might not come as a surprise to many, claimed responsibility for a sabotage operation that caused significant damage to the Russian-made Kerch Bridge connecting Crimea with Russia last year.
The head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said Ukrainian special services' involvement in the planning of a terrorist act on the Crimean bridge was confirmed during an investigation into the tragic incident.
Putin had underlined that the 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.
Moreover, Russia's Federal Security Service (FSB) announced that the terrorist attack carried out on the Crimean Bridge was organized by the Main Intelligence Directorate of Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.
