Despite joyful statements from Ukrainian officials following the explosion on the Kerch Strait bridge on Saturday, which is a crucial supply route for Moscow's military in southern Ukraine, no one has yet claimed credit.
The bridge serves as both a crucial thoroughfare for the port of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is headquartered and a commanding reminder of Russia's takeover of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
As he was ready to hold a meeting of his security council on Monday, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Ukraine of planning what he called a terrorist strike on a crucial bridge between Russia and Crimea..
"There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure," Putin on Sunday in a video on the Kremlin's Telegram channel said. "This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services."
Dmitry Medvedev, the vice-chairman of the Security Council, stated that Russia should execute the "terrorists" in charge of the attack before the meeting on Monday. He was quoted as saying by state news agency Tass, "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."
The bridge was damaged at a time when Russia was suffering defeats on the battlefield and there were rising worries that Moscow may turn to nuclear weapons after Putin repeatedly warned the West that any attack on Russia could result in a nuclear reaction. Putin met with Alexander Bastrykin, the director of Russia's Investigative Committee, on Sunday. Bastrykin gave a report on the investigation into what he claimed was a vehicle explosion and ensuing fire on the bridge.
Before arriving at the bridge, the vehicle, according to Bastrykin, passed through North Ossetia, North Georgia, Georgia, Armenia, and the Krasnodar region of Russia. According to Bastrykin in the video posted to the Kremlin's Telegram channel, "citizens of Russia and foreign countries" were among those who assisted the Ukrainian secret services in their preparation.
Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst and the founder of the website Information Resistance, warned Espreso TV, a popular digital broadcaster in Ukraine, that following the explosion on the Crimea bridge, Russia may step up attacks on civilian targets. "This probably means missile attacks on border areas - Sumy and Chernihiv regions. It could also mean using missiles and (Iranian-made) Shahed-136 drones to hit even deeper into Ukrainian territory," he said.
According to the Russian transport ministry, which was cited by the RIA news agency, since the explosion, a ferry has transported close to 1,500 people and 162 heavy loads across the Kerch Strait.
