“Find a bridge security plan”… Partial resumption of vehicle operation
Ukrainian forces also attempt additional drone strikes in Crimea
Russian President Vladimir Putin (pictured) warned of a “retaliation attack” against Ukraine after the Kerch Bridge, which connects the Crimean peninsula and the Russian mainland, was attacked on the 17th (local time). After Putin’s remarks, Russian forces launched massive airstrikes in southern and eastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military is also said to have attempted an additional drone attack on the Crimean Peninsula on the 18th, one day after the attack on the Khrim Bridge.
President Putin said at a government meeting that day, “The Ukrainian government has committed another terrorist act against the Khrim Bridge,” adding, “The Russian Ministry of Defense is preparing to retaliate for this terrorist attack.”
Earlier, the Russian government claimed that a Ukrainian special agency used two underwater drones to attack the Khrm Bridge in the early morning of the 17th. Although the Ukrainian government has not officially acknowledged responsibility for the attack, some Ukrainian media, citing government sources, reported that the Ukrainian State Security Service (SBU) and the Navy carried out the attack.
President Putin said, “This crime is meaningless from a military point of view,” and “because the Khrm Bridge has not been used as a means of military transport for a long time.” At the same time, he criticized it as “a brutal crime in which innocent civilians were killed and injured.” The Russian side is claiming that two civilians were killed and a child injured in the attack the previous day as “terrorism targeting civilian facilities.” On the other hand, Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmitro Kuleva refuted that the bridge could not be considered “civilian infrastructure”, saying that “the bridge is mainly used by the Russian army to supply ammunition, fuel and other military equipment to the Ukrainian peninsula and southern Ukraine.” . President Putin ordered the preparation of countermeasures, saying, “Find concrete bridge security measures,” saying that the attack on the Khrim Bridge has recurred following last October.
The attack destroyed part of the vehicular bridge span of the Krem Bridge, but the piers were reportedly undamaged. Traffic partially resumed on the day after the attack, and traffic in both directions will be possible by mid-September, the Russian government said.
After President Putin’s “retaliation warning,” Russian forces launched massive airstrikes in Ukraine using drones and missiles overnight. The Ukrainian air force was hit by missiles and drones early in the morning on the southern Odessa, Mykolaiu, Kherson, and Zaporozhye, central Dnipropetrovsk, and eastern Donetsk. 31 of them were shot down over Odessa and elsewhere. It is reported that one 72-year-old woman was killed and at least five others were injured in the airstrike in Zaporizhia. The Russian military also carried out massive air strikes on the Khrim Bridge last October, claiming that Ukrainian forces carried out a sabotage operation when a large-scale explosion occurred.
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on the same day that 28 Ukrainian drones attempted to attack the Crimean Peninsula, but all were shot down by activating air defense networks.
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2023-07-18 12:24:00
