In a tragic incident, two parents lost their lives and a young girl was injured, following an attack that damaged Putin’s prestige project, the Crimea Bridge. Russia placed the blame on Ukrainian security forces, while Ukrainian media claimed that Ukraine organized the attack.
On Monday, two individuals were killed and their daughter was injured in what Russia claimed was an attack by the Ukrainians on the Crimean Bridge, a vital route for Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine and a prestige undertaking that President Vladimir Putin personally inaugurated.
On the 19-km (12-mile) road and rail bridge connecting Russia and Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, explosions were reported early in the morning.
Unconfirmed images showed a fracture in the bridge’s road and listing to one side with crumpled metal barricades.
Drivers were captured on dash cams abruptly braking just after the incident. Traffic came to a stop.
On the same day that Putin must decide whether or not to prolong a UN-brokered agreement that authorizes the export of grain over the Black Sea, Russian officials claimed Ukraine was responsible for what they called a “terrorist” attack on the bridge.
The Ukrainian military speculated that the attack might have been a kind of retaliation by Russia, however, Ukrainian media cited anonymous sources as suggesting that the Security Service of Ukraine was responsible for the incident.
In a passenger vehicle, a girl’s parents were killed and their daughter was hurt. The young woman was receiving intensive care.
The Belgorod region’s governor, Vyacheslav Gladkov, wrote in a post on the Telegram messaging service, “The girl was hurt.”
The death of her parents, her mother, and father, is the toughest thing. He added, “No words can ease the grief of loss here.
Russian prosecutors claimed that the incident, which they classified as terrorism, was the work of Ukrainian security agencies.
Russia accused Ukraine of planning the attack on the bridge in October, claiming Kyrylo Budanov, the director of Ukrainian military intelligence, was responsible.
Only tangentially acknowledged the strike by Ukraine months later.
In retaliation for the attack in October, Russia carried out attacks on Ukrainian cities and power plants. Putin even drove a Mercedes across the bridge and ordered its repair.
What the incident on the bridge would mean for the U.N.-mediated agreement that permits the secure Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain was not immediately evident. Among the biggest exporters of grains worldwide are Ukraine and Russia.
According to MarineTraffic.com, the U.N. agreement is scheduled to expire on Monday, with the final ship to travel under the agreement departing the port of Odesa early on Sunday.
In response, Moscow needs to demolish the infrastructure of Ukraine, according to Sergei Mironov, the head of the A Just Russia party in the Russian parliament.
“That is what we need to do, and not discuss a grain deal that helps Kyiv’s rulers and their Western masters line their pockets. There can be no grain deal after another terrorist attack,” he said on Telegram.
A year ago, Russia consented to sign the Black Sea grain agreement, allowing Ukraine to continue food exports from its southern ports despite the conflict.
Serious bridge damage might disrupt Russian supply routes and leave tens of thousands of Russian visitors stranded in Crimea.
A year ago, Russia consented to sign the Black Sea grain agreement, allowing Ukraine to continue food exports from its southern ports despite the conflict.
Serious bridge damage might disrupt Russian supply routes and leave tens of thousands of Russian visitors stranded in Crimea.
Nikita Khrushchev, the then-Soviet leader, transferred Crimea from Soviet Russia to Soviet Ukraine in 1954; following the USSR’s dissolution, Russia recognized the move in 1994. Ukraine has promised to give Crimea back.
Passengers may be seen gasping in the video that was shot from a train that was crossing the bridge after the road damage was discovered.
It really is terrible! It’s crazy,” one of the passengers remarked.
As Russians left for vacation in recent weeks, there were daily kilometer-long traffic bottlenecks at the bridge’s entry.
Before police moved traffic away from the bridge on Monday morning, there was a kilometer-long traffic bottleneck. Social media posts showed parked autos at the bridge’s entry and on the bridge itself.
Residents were instructed not to use the bridge by the Crimean peninsula’s Russian-backed government.
Russian visitors will be able to go overland to Crimea via the Russian-controlled territories of southern Ukraine, according to Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-appointed governor of Kherson.
