After months of silence, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) has finally acknowledged its involvement in the attack on the Crimean bridge in October last year. During a ceremony in Kyiv to celebrate the security services, SBU chief Vasyl Malyuk proudly stated that their officers have been actively engaging and “destroying the enemy” in critical areas, aiming to liberate their land swiftly. Among their achievements, Malyuk highlighted the destruction of the Crimean bridge.
This admission comes after Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar became the first Ukrainian official to directly acknowledge Ukraine’s responsibility for the attack earlier this month. The incident involved a powerful explosion on the bridge, believed to have been caused by a bomb concealed within a shipping container. The Crimean bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge, plays a crucial role in supplying Russia’s ongoing war on Ukraine, facilitating the movement of people and goods into the Ukrainian territories occupied by Moscow in the south and east of the country.
Not only is the bridge strategically important, but it also holds significant personal value for Russian President Vladimir Putin, as it is considered a symbol of the “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland, according to the Kremlin’s narrative.
In a separate incident, the bridge faced two more strikes on July 17, with a Ukrainian security official admitting that Kyiv was responsible for those attacks as well, as reported by CNN. These developments mark a significant shift in the handling of the situation and raise further tensions in the already complex relations between Ukraine and Russia. The acknowledgment of involvement in the attacks could have wider implications for the regional security dynamics and diplomatic relations moving forward.
