Vasyl Malyuk, the head of Ukraine’s Security Service, has confirmed the country’s involvement in the October 2022 attack against the bridge connecting Russia and Crimea, RBC Ukraine has said, citing the official.
“[There were] many special operations. We may only discuss some of those after we win the war, and some we won’t discuss at all… We destroyed the Crimean Bridge on 8 October 2022,” the media outlet quotes Malyuk as saying.
Ukraine had only hinted at its involvement in the attack previously. In late May 2023, Malyuk reported that Ukraine “had been involved in certain acts” at the bridge which were later declared “terrorist attacks” by Russia.
An explosion occurred on the Crimean Bridge in the early hours of 8 October 2022, causing the road surface to collapse in several sections and setting a train transporting flammables alight. Four people were killed in the explosion.
The following day, Vladimir Putin referred to the explosion as “a terror attack against Russia’s critical infrastructure” and said Ukraine had plotted it. Alexander Bastrykin, the chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee, said “citizens of Russia and other countries were involved in plotting the attack”.
Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s Deputy Defence Minister, stated earlier this month Ukraine was responsible for the blowing up of the Crimean Bridge.
