The truck bomb on October 8 last year caused significant damage to a bridge seen as vital to Russian military and civilians supplies (Picture: AFP via Getty Images)
Ukraine’s security service has said for the first time it carried out the bomb attack that badly damaged Russia’s bridge to Crimea last year.
Three people died in the explosion on October 8, with the chairman of Russian investigative committee saying he would open a criminal case into what he described as ‘act of terrorism’.
President Vladimir Putin responded to the attack by saying: ‘There is no doubt it was a terrorist act directed at the destruction of critically important civilian infrastructure.
‘This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services.’
Yesterday, head of the Ukrainian Security Service head Vasyl Malyuk confirmed the Russian leader’s suspicions about who was behind the bombing were entirely correct.
Speaking on national television, he said: ‘There were many different operations, special operations.
‘We’ll be able to speak about some of them publicly and out loud after the victory, we will not talk at all about others.
‘It is one of our actions, namely the destruction of the Crimean bridge on October 8 last year.’
The roadway on the bridge was closed for months following the attack (Picture: AP)
While this was the first official confirmation of Ukraine’s involvement in the attack, high-profile figures in the country’s government were revelling in Russia’s humiliation shortly after it happened.
Soon after Putin made his comments, Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, tweeted: ‘Putin accuses Ukraine of terrorism? Sounds too cynical even for Russia.
‘Less than 24 hours ago Russian planes hit a residential area of Zaporizhzhia with 12 missiles, killing 13 people and injuring more than 50.
‘There is only one terrorist state here and the whole world knows who it is.’
An attack by surface drones last week caused less damage, but still a significant amount (Picture: AP)
The admission from Mr Malyuk came less than two weeks after an attack by surface drones again damaged the Crimea bridge, which was built in the years after Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014.
A span of the roadway was left hanging precariously by the latest attack, which killed two people and injured their daughter.
The bridge, widely considered a vanity project for Putin, has served as an important artery for military and civilian supplies during the ongoing war.
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Vladimir Putin furiously blamed the Ukrainians after the attack – and they’ve now confirmed his suspicions.
