“Terrorism by special agencies”… It remains to be seen whether retaliatory measures will be taken
Medvedev, a close confidant of Putin, announces policy of ‘direct retaliation’
Tensions are escalating as Russian President Vladimir Putin and Russian investigative authorities attribute the explosion of the Crimean Bridge (Kerch Strait Bridge) to a Ukrainian special agency and define it as an ‘act of terrorism’.
Dmitry Medvedev, a close confidant of Putin and vice president of the Russian Security Council, who served as prime minister and president with Putin, said Russia would take direct retaliation on Ukraine’s side for the incident.
The Crimean Bridge is a 19km-long bridge that connects the Russian mainland with the Crimean Peninsula, which has been occupied by Russia since 2014, and opened in 2018.
On the morning of the 8th, a truck bomb exploded in the car traffic section of the bridge and the tankers of a freight train passing by the railroad track caught fire, destroying parts of the bridge and killing three people.
Ukrainian authorities and the military have not made any clear statement as to whether they played a role in the case.
The Russian Kremlin released a video on the 9th (local time) of Putin receiving a report from Alexander Vastrikin, the head of the investigation committee responsible for investigating the incident.
In the video, Putin, receiving the report, said, “The planners, those who carried out the explosion, and those who supported it behind the scenes are Ukrainian special agencies.” acts of terror,” he said.
Earlier, Chairman Bastrickin told Putin that the incident was “an act of terror organized by a special Ukrainian agency” and that “the purpose of the terrorist attack was to destroy a large civilian infrastructure very important to the Russian Federation.”
According to Vastrikin, the bombed truck reached the Crimean Bridge via Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, Russian North Ossetia and Krasnodar.
He said Russian investigators had identified who was involved in organizing the truck’s movements.
Dmitry Medvedev, deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council, said in an interview with a journalist in the Donbas region occupied by Russia this year, “It is Ukraine, a failed country, that has carried out this crime (the Crimean Bridge explosion),” said Russian state-run Sputnik news agency. It is an act of terror and destruction committed by the Kiev (Russian name of the Ukrainian capital, Kiiu) regime, a group.”
“Russia’s only response to this crime is to directly destroy the terrorists,” Medvedev said.
He pointed out that a mobilization ordinance that had not been implemented in Russia for more than 80 years is being implemented, and that national unity is being achieved. “It guarantees that we will win unconditionally.”
Russian state news agency Rianovosti reported that Putin is scheduled to hold a security meeting on the 10th (local time).
The reason or agenda for the convening of the security meeting was not immediately disclosed, but it is expected that retaliatory measures against Ukraine will be discussed in relation to the Crimean Bridge explosion that occurred two days ago.
However, the convening of a security meeting itself is not unusual.
If you look at Putin’s latest schedule released by the Kremlin, security meetings are usually held once every 1-2 weeks, and the latest convened was about two weeks ago.
At that time, measures were discussed in accordance with the partial mobilization order of the reserve forces issued on September 21.
/yunhap news