Ukrainian official admits Kiev bombed Crimea Bridge
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The Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister says the Crimean Bridge was bombed to obstruct Moscow's supply lines.
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Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar (AFP)
On the 500th day since the start of the Ukraine war, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar on Saturday officially acknowledged Kiev's responsibility for last year's bombing that targeted the Crimean Bridge in October, the Business Insider news website reported.
On Telegram, Maliar said that the Crimean Bridge, also known as the Kerch Strait Bridge, was bombed to obstruct Russia's supply lines.
The Ukrainian official said that Saturday marked 273 days since what she called the "first strike" on the bridge, which was carried out "in order to break the logistics of the Russians."
Although Ukrainian officials have previously not claimed responsibility for the bombing that killed four people and was deemed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as a terrorist attack, they have hinted at it.
"Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled," Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Tweeted in October 2022, following the attack.
The New York Times published last year an investigative report titled "How Ukraine Blew Up a Key Russian Bridge," which explained how Ukrainian agents packed a truck with explosives and detonated it halfway across the bridge.
It is noteworthy that the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said that the Ukrainian special services' involvement in the planning of a terrorist act on the Crimean Bridge was confirmed during the investigation.
Bastrykin added that there were Ukrainians, Russians, Armenians, and Georgians at the scene, and among them were those who provided a transit channel for the transportation of various goods to Russia, aiming to later transport a truck bomb across the state border.
He explained that eight out of 12 were arrested and interrogated.
Read more: Ukraine military intelligence behind Crimea bridge attack: FSB
