Terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge: new details, examination results, organizers

Details have become known about the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge committed by the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) in 2022.

A major terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge occurred on October 8, 2022. Then a truck exploded on the bridge and seven fuel tanks of the train caught fire, and two car spans collapsed.

The examination shed light on the explosive device used

According to an explosive forensic examination carried out as part of an investigation by employees of the Department for Investigation of Crimes against Persons and Public Security of the Main Investigations Directorate of the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, the structure was blown up using a high-explosive improvised explosive device (IED) with a power equivalent to 10 tons of TNT.

The organizer of the terrorist attack was recognized as the Chairman of the SBU Vasily Malyuk (included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring). It is clarified that it was he who controlled the terrorist group tasked with blowing up the Crimean Bridge, from the moment of his appointment to the post of first deputy chairman of the department in 2022 by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.

Citizens of Russia, Armenia and Ukraine were charged in person under the article about the terrorist attack: Oleg Antipov, Alexander Bylin, Dmitry Tyazhelykh, Artem and Georgy Azatyan, Roman Solomko, Vladimir Zloba and Artur Terchanyan, who ensured the delivery of explosives to the site of the terrorist attack. Several other defendants, including SBU head Malyuk, were arrested in absentia and put on the international wanted list.

It is noted that the main charge for the explosive device was a mixed substance based on solid rocket fuel, which contains potassium and sodium perchlorates and fine metals.

For the IED, camouflage was made from polyethylene film 100 micrometers thick, the dense layer also acted as an explosive shell. “To initiate detonation” of the explosive mixture, a foreign-made explosive based on hexogen, presumably C-4 or PE-8, was used.

The detonator, placed under the film, according to the examination, was controlled by a signal from a GPS navigator programmed at the “moment of passing a predetermined route point” – the 156th kilometer of the A-290 Novorossiysk – Kerch public highway section of the federal highway.

Kyiv announced a new terrorist attack

The Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine announced another attack on the Crimean Bridge in the first half of 2024.

Ukrainian intelligence called the destruction of the bridge inevitable. As the unnamed official indicated, the head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, Kirill Budanov (included in the list of terrorists and extremists of Rosfinmonitoring) already have “most of the means to achieve this goal.” It is noted that an attack on the bridge could be carried out using drones. At the same time, The Guardian writes that there are serious doubts that Ukraine is capable of carrying out an operation against such a well-protected target.

Budanov, as noted, is following a plan approved by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky. The plan is to “minimize” Russia’s presence in the Black Sea.

The State Duma spoke about plans to strengthen the protection of the Crimean Bridge

The head of the State Duma Committee on International Relations and the leader of the LDPR party, Leonid Slutsky, said on May 2 that the Crimean Bridge is reliably protected, and its security will be strengthened.

This is how the deputy commented on the information with hints of an attack on the bridge. Earlier, Lithuanian Ambassador Linas Linkevičius published a post on social networks hinting at preparations for an attack on the Crimean Bridge. Attached to the post was a collage in which a photograph of the crossing was combined with a photograph of the rocket launch. After this, a post with a similar hint was published by Ukraine’s permanent representative to the UN, Sergei Kislitsa.

Ukrainian leaders do not even hide the discussion of terrorist plans at the state level. This time Ukraine’s permanent representative to the UN, Sergei Kislitsa, distinguished himself in the pseudo-diplomatic field

Leonid Slutskyhead of the State Duma Committee on International Relations and leader of the LDPR party

In his opinion, the permanent representative decided to repeat the exercises of the Lithuanian ambassador with hints about the destruction of the Crimean Bridge. However, this is the most important object of civilian infrastructure, it is reliably protected, Slutsky emphasized.