Ukrainian naval drones hit a key bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean peninsula, killing a couple and seriously injuring their daughter, the Kremlin said on Monday.
A symbolically and strategically important piece of infrastructure that was personally inaugurated by President Vladimir Putin in 2018, the bridge connects road and rail traffic from Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula that Moscow annexed in 2014.
Images from The Associated Press and others showed that part of the roadbed had torn away, with warped metal girders dangling into the water.
Russian officials said the bridge was hit by explosions from two Ukrainian “unmanned surface naval vehicles,” Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement, adding that it had opened an investigation into what it called a “terrorist act.”
A man and a woman driving across the bridge were killed and their daughter seriously injured, the committee said.
Russian officials provided no evidence for their claims of responsibility for the incident.
Ukraine’s military intelligence spokesman Andriy Yusov declined to comment on whether Ukraine was involved. He only noted that “any logistical problem is an additional complication for the occupiers,” meaning Russia, in comments to Ukraine’s public broadcaster Suspilne.
Natalia Humeniuk, a spokeswoman for Ukraine’s southern command, suggested that Russia might be behind the attack.
“Given the unprecedented security measures that the Russians have been taking for a long time around the Crimean bridge, most likely they have got this whole situation under control and it continues to unfold according to their programmed script,” Humeniuk told Suspilne. .
In October, Russia blamed Ukraine for another explosion that damaged the bridge, also known as the Kerch Bridge. Ukraine only indirectly admitted to the attack months later.
On Monday, Russia’s Gray Zone channel, a Telegram messaging app channel affiliated with the Wagner mercenary group, reported that there were two attacks on the bridge at 03:04 a.m. (8:04 p.m. ET Sunday) and 03 :20 a.m., Reuters reported.
Vladimir Konstantinov, speaker of the Russian-installed Crimean parliament, said in a statement posted on Telegram that the railway section of the bridge, which is crucial for Russian military logistics, was not damaged by the blasts.
“kyiv could not help knowing that the car part of the crossing is a purely civilian facility,” he said. “But that never stopped the terrorists. It won’t stop [them] in the future.”
He added that “in terms of retribution,” the Russian Defense Ministry “has promised attacks against the centers where criminal decisions are made,” he said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed.
