Russia has revealed part of its investigation into the bombing of the Crimean bridge, accusing Ukrainian intelligence services of carrying it out, while the US and Germany called the Kremlin’s nuclear threats “irresponsible”.
in a meeting with Vladimir Putin, the President of Russia; Alexander Bastrykin, head of Russia’s Investigative Committee on Bombings, presented the findings of an investigation into Saturday’s explosion that set the bridge on fire.
Bastrykin revealed Monday evening that Russian and foreign nationals helped Ukrainian intelligence prepare for the attack.
He added: The Federal Security Service of Russia has determined the identity of the designers of the “terrorist” attack on the Crimean bridge and the destination of the truck that was used in the bombing.
He revealed that he traveled from Bulgaria to Georgia and then to Armenia before reaching North Ossetia in Russia and continuing to the Krasnodar region in southwestern Russia adjacent to Crimea.
During that, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukrainian intelligence of planning and carrying out what he described as a terrorist attack on the Kerch bridge that connects Russia to Crimea.
“There is no doubt that this was a terrorist attack aimed at destroying a sensitive site in Russia’s infrastructure,” Putin said during a meeting with Bastrykin on Sunday evening.
The director of the FBI briefed Putin on the progress of the investigation into the bridge bombing, and TASS news agency quoted the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee as saying, “Ukrainian special services are responsible for the attack.”
On the other hand, the New York Times, quoting a senior Ukrainian official, reported that the Ukrainian intelligence agency had arranged the bombing of the Crimean bridge with a truck bomb.
The newspaper says that it is not clear whether the driver who was killed in the explosion was aware of the presence of explosives in the truck or not.
The satellite images that were taken on Saturday and published by the “Maxar” company show the extent of destruction caused by the explosion of the Qurum bridge, which shows the collapse of the bed on a row of cars and the burning of fuel tanks in a row of cars. Train on the railway line parallel to the bridge.
According to local news agencies, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khasnoulin announced that divers will begin their work today to determine the extent of damage to the Crimean bridge, and a more detailed survey of the water will be completed by the end of the day.
The Russian Ministry of Transport announced that the movement of freight trains and intercity trains crossing the Crimean bridge was organized on Sunday according to the established schedule. About 10 hours after the explosion, the movement of cars resumed to a limited extent.
“The situation is manageable, it is worrying, but not catastrophic. Of course, it has stirred up emotions and there is a great desire for revenge,” Crimea’s Russian governor, Sergei Aksyonov, told reporters.
The bombing of the bridge, an important symbol of Moscow’s annexation of Crimea, comes amid what Ukraine describes as Russian defeats on the battlefield, undermining the Kremlin’s messages of reassurance that the conflict is going according to plan. slow
Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and President Vladimir Putin inaugurated the 19-kilometer-long Crimean Bridge, which connects the region to Russia’s transportation network, during a grand celebration four years later.
On the other hand, Dmitry Peskov, the spokesman of the Russian President, said on Sunday that the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge does not justify the activation of Russia’s nuclear doctrine.
Asked whether the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge was one of the justifications for the activation of Russia’s nuclear doctrine, Peskov said: “No, this is a completely wrong formulation of the question.”
On September 21, Russian President Vladimir Putin issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons and announced the mobilization of reserve forces following Ukrainian military advances in the field.
On the other hand, German Chancellor Olaf Schulz spoke by phone with US President Joe Biden on Sunday and agreed that the Kremlin’s recent nuclear threats were “irresponsible” and that Russia’s decision to mobilize partially was a “fatal mistake”. German government statement
The German government added in the statement that the phone call, which lasted about an hour, focused on ongoing preparations for the upcoming G7 and G20 meetings, which will address “Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its consequences.”
The statement said the two leaders agreed not to fully accept the annexation of Ukrainian lands by Russia, describing it as an additional escalation.
They also agreed that the announcement of partial mobilization represented the “bitter price” Russians had to pay for President Vladimir Putin’s miscalculation.
On the subject of attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines, the two leaders stressed the need to deal decisively with any sabotage of critical infrastructure.
Source: Lebanon Debate
