Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba defended this Monday that the Kerch Bridge, which connects the occupied Crimean peninsula to Russia and was attacked again, is a legitimate military target of the Ukrainians.
“Not all bridges are civil by definition. First, this particular bridge was built illegally, it exists outside the law and you have to remember that. And second, it is mainly used for military purposes and we should treat it as such.” he said Kuleba, talking to journalists at UN headquarters.
The official stressed that “the bridge is mainly used to supply the Russian army in occupied Crimea and southern Ukraine with ammunition, fuel and other military equipment needed by the Russian army to continue its offensive war”.
However, the Ukrainian minister avoided confirming whether his country was responsible for Monday’s attack, arguing that he does not have access to confidential information during his trip to New York.
This is the second attack on the Crimean bridge, inaugurated in May 2018, which consists of a dual structure, car and railway, and Moscow has attributed responsibility for the attack to Kiev.
In October last year, a truck loaded with explosives exploded on the 19-kilometre bridge, believed to be the longest in Europe, in an attack that killed five people.
On Monday, the attack resulted in two deaths and Ukraine’s security service indirectly claimed responsibility, saying it would provide “full details on the organization” of the attack following the country’s victory over Russia, and reused a poem in reference to the bridge, as he did in October after the first attack.
Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said Moscow will respond to the “terrorist attack by the Kiev regime” and announced that the Defense Ministry is preparing responses.
According to Putin, this was a “senseless crime” from a military point of view, as the Crimean bridge “has not been used for a long time” for transporting troops and equipment.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khousnullin said the supporting structures of the Crimean Bridge were not damaged by the blast, which Putin called “good news”.
Khousnoullin promised a full reopening of road traffic on the bridge by November 1.
Russian authorities this Monday recommended Russian tourists stranded after the attack on the bridge in Crimea to return to their homes through the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow.
Commercial flights between Moscow and Crimea were suspended after the start of the Russian offensive in Ukraine, and most Russian tourists travel to the peninsula by car, using the part of the bridge reserved for road traffic.
Source: DN
