Behind the explosion on the Crimean bridge are the special services of Ukraine, informs American newspaper The Washington Post, citing a source in the Ukrainian government.

Journalists note that the explosion brings a new element of tension to the war at a time when “Russian President Vladimir Putin and his entourage have repeatedly warned that Russia could use nuclear weapons.”

Ukrayinska Pravda was the first to write about the involvement of the SBU – an unnamed interlocutor in law enforcement agencies told the publication about this. “Undermining the Crimean bridge is an operation of the Security Service of Ukraine,” he said.

Similar information led and UNIAN, also citing their own law enforcement source.

SBU speaker Artem Dekhtyarenko refused comment on what happened. “We will comment on the role of the SBU or any state body of Ukraine in the “cotton” after our final victory,” he said. Meanwhile, the following publication appeared in the telegram channel of the service:

Representatives of the Ukrainian authorities also did not directly state that the military or special services of Ukraine were involved in the explosion. Although an adviser to the presidential office, Mykhailo Podoliak, noted that this is only a “beginning”: “Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be destroyed.”

However, he then attributed the bridge explosion to the struggle of the power departments of Russia: the “chekists” (FSB) and the military (the Ministry of Defense and the General Staff). “Now seriously. The FSB / PMCs are trying to eat the leadership of the Ministry of Defense / General Staff. A moment before the change of personnel, the FSB goes into a knockdown: they watched the explosion on the Putin bridge. Now the Defense Ministry will be able to blame the FSB for future defeats in the South,” Podolyak said.

The Ministry of Defense of Ukraine also reacted to the explosion of the Crimean bridge. “The missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch bridge — two infamous symbols of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea — have disappeared. What’s next, Russians? — says in the message.

Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov published video of the burning Crimean bridge, combined with the famous recording of Marilyn Monroe, performing the song “Happy birthday, mister President”. The day before, Putin turned 70 years old.

October 7, Natalia Gumenyuk, Speaker of the Operational Command “South” toldthat the Armed Forces of Ukraine prepared a “souvenir” for the Russian president. “Actually, I don’t want to congratulate him at all, but with his passion and love for sacred dates and braces, we can note that today, by the way, is World Cotton Day. Here’s a souvenir for him that will be just like that, ”Gumenyuk promised.

Earlier, high-ranking officials and the military of Ukraine have repeatedly said that they consider the Crimean bridge as a legitimate target for strikes, since they consider the peninsula to be part of the country. They also noted that it was supplying the Russian army.

Major General of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Dmitry Marchenko named this bridge is the number one target after receiving western ranged weapons. Minister of Defense of Ukraine Oleksiy Reznikov specifiedthat American weapons will help Kyiv return the Donbass and Crimea. In April, NSDC Secretary Oleksiy Danilov said that Kyiv was ready to strike at the bridge in Crimea at the first opportunity. In the Kremlin answeredthat they would regard the attack as a terrorist act, and the deputy chairman of the Security Council, Dmitry Medvedev, threatened Ukraine with a retaliatory strike.

The State Duma has already warned of “inevitable consequences” if confirmed “Ukrainian trace” in the explosion on the Crimean bridge. Head of the International Affairs Committee, LDPR leader Leonid Slutsky declaredthat “this is not just an emergency”, and “it is Kyiv that is behind the organization of this attack”, and Russia’s response “should be tough, but not necessarily in the forehead.”

On the morning of October 8, the National Anti-Terrorism Committee reported that a truck had been blown up on the Crimean bridge. As a result, two car spans of the crossing were destroyed. The blast wave affected a passing railway freight train, seven fuel tanks caught fire. The fire was subsequently extinguished.

Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed to create a government commission on the fact of the incident. The heads of the Ministry of Transport and the Ministry of Emergency Situations left for the place.

The Crimean bridge passes through the Kerch Strait, connecting the Taman Peninsula (Krasnodar Territory) and the Crimea. Its length is 19 km, it is considered the longest in Europe. In 2018, Putin personally opened the almost $4 billion bridge. The commissioning was supposed to symbolize Russia’s ownership of Crimea.