Who is behind the explosion on the Crimean bridge? The Ukrainian leadership sneers, but takes no responsibility. Presidential adviser Podoljak brings his own thesis into play: the originators should be sought in Russia's military leadership. The background is the increasing tensions with the domestic secret service and mercenary groups.
After the explosion of a truck bomb on the bridge to the annexed Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, the trail "clearly" leads to Russia, according to the Ukrainian presidency. "It is worth noting that according to all indications, the truck that exploded drove onto the bridge from the Russian side," Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podoliak told the online newspaper Ukrajinska Pravda. "So the answers should be sought in Russia," Podoliak added.
The owner of the truck could be identified according to Russian information. Russian investigators said it was a resident of the southern Russian region of Krasnodar, without naming the man. Accordingly, investigations were initiated at his residence, the documented route of the truck will be checked.
Podoljak celebrated the explosion on Twitter early in the morning: "Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine," wrote the presidential adviser. He did not explicitly say that Ukraine was responsible for the fire. In the afternoon he then published the thesis on Twitter that responsibility was to be found in Russia: The explosion was the escalation of a conflict between Russia's domestic secret service FSB and private militias on the one hand and the Russian Ministry of Defense and the General Staff on the other.
The background is rumors of upheaval, especially between the Wagner mercenary group and the Ministry of Defense. Since Thursday, footage has been circulating on social networks that is said to show the arrest of Alexey Slobodenyuk, the Wagner Group's chief propagandist. He had recently agitated against Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and blamed him for the failures in Ukraine.
Podoljak explained his thesis to "Ukrainska Pravda": "The destruction of the bridge - Putin's personal project - not only undermines the positions of the FSB, which allowed it, but also gives the military an alibi for systemic defeats in southern Ukraine FSB " said the presidential adviser. "The Ministry of Defense can now blame the FSB for the future loss of the South. Isn't it obvious who caused the explosion?" he asked on Twitter. Moscow's leadership had always stressed that the bridge was safe despite the military offensive in Ukraine. The Russian anti-terrorist committee initially gave no information about the incident.
