Russia’s Putin calls Crimea bridge attack an ‘act of terrorism’ by Ukraine
- The blast occurred on Saturday on the bridge over the Kerch Strait, a key supply route for Moscow’s forces in southern Ukraine
- Russian investigator said Ukrainian special services and citizens of Russia and other countries took part in the attack
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of orchestrating what he called a terrorist attack on a key bridge linking Russia and Crimea, as he prepared to hold a meeting of his security council on Monday.
“There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure,” Putin said on Sunday in a video on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
“This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services.”
Security Council Deputy Chairman Dmitry Medvedev said ahead of Monday’s meeting that Russia should kill the “terrorists” responsible for the attack.
“Russia can only respond to this crime by directly killing terrorists, as is the custom elsewhere in the world. This is what Russian citizens expect,” he was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass.
A blast on Saturday on the bridge over the Kerch Strait, a major supply route for Moscow’s forces in southern Ukraine, prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials but no claim of responsibility.