After this affront and while his army pitches from the base to the top, the Russian president convenes his Security Council on Monday and accuses the Ukrainian secret services of being at the origin of the powerful explosion.
Correspondent in Moscow
After the spectacular explosion of the Crimean bridge, followed by new bombings of Ukrainian civilians, Vladimir Putin will chair his Security Council on Monday, which includes the leaders of the army and “services“. The opportunity possibly to consider additional reactions to the damage caused to the 10 kilometer structure connecting the peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014 to the Krasnodar region. The Russian president on Sunday accused the Ukrainian secret service of being behind the powerful explosion, which he called “terrorist act” against key infrastructure. “The authors, performers and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services”Vladimir Putin said during a meeting with the head of the Russian Investigative Committee, according to a video released by the Kremlin.
On Sunday, divers were examining the surroundings of the place where, the day before, around 6 a.m., a ball of fire caused the collapse of one of the two road lanes of the bridge, when a railway convoy passed overhead. several wagons caught fire. Three people in nearby vehicles died in the explosion, according to a report provided by the Russians. The resumption of road and rail traffic officially resumed on Saturday, and the Ministry of Transport announced that passenger trains from Crimea to Russia “were driving according to the usual plan“. Sunday afternoon, we could see on the spot that access to the bridge by car was only done in dribs and drabs, after hours of waiting. A ferry was to be set up for the passage of buses and trucks, Crimean Governor Sergei Axionov said on Sunday.
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Read alsoExplosion of the Kerch bridge: what consequences for Russia?
Symbolically, the blow is serious for Moscow. The explosion, which occurred the day after Vladimir Putin’s 70th birthday, affected one of his flagship projects, carried out at great expense and inaugurated in 2018 by the Russian president to materialize the attachment – internationally disputed – of Crimea to the federation. of Russia, four years earlier. At a time when Russian forces are on the back foot in Ukraine, the snub is all the more scathing in that it is through this Kerch bridge, spanning the strait between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea, that logistics and supplies for Russian troops on the Kherson front in southern Ukraine. A supply line theoretically out of reach of possible Ukrainian attacks, even if the peninsula has been hit a few times in recent months.
In response, a few hours later, in the night from Saturday to Sunday, new Russian bombardments hit the town of Zaporijjia, killing twelve to seventeen people and injuring sixty to eighty-seven, according to the different reports, and while the victims, all civilians, were still possibly under the rubble. Three days earlier, a strike had already claimed seventeen victims in this city in southern Ukraine. This time, four cruise missiles were used, according to the Ukrainian Air Force. “Any sense. Absolute evil. Terrorists and savages. From the one who gave this order to the one who executed it. Everyone has a responsibility“Reacted Volodymyr Zelensky on his Telegram account. Russian authorities also said on Sunday that they struck “foreign mercenariesin the Zaporizhia region.
Load placed on board a vehicle or sabotage of the bridge, attack launched from the sea or by a missile? The precise circumstances of the explosion still aroused speculation on Sunday. At this point, the Russian authorities attributed the explosion to a truck bomb, filmed by CCTV cameras, whose owner is said to be a resident of the Krasnodar region. According to the head of the investigation committee, Alexandre Bastrykine, this truck would have passed through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, the Russian region of North Ossetia then that of Krasnodar to arrive on the Crimean bridge. According to him, of “persons who participated in the organization of the movement of this truck” were identified by Russian investigators.
The Crimean bridge, strategic and ultra-sensitive, was theoretically subject to reinforced naval, air and anti-missile surveillance. A “shield” that also included “military dolphins» specially trained. It is true that the Ukrainians themselves had already mentioned several months ago the possibility of tackling it. However, we note that kyiv has not officially claimed responsibility. On Saturday evening, Volodomyr Zelensky, in his daily message to Ukrainians, limited himself to irony, noting that the day had been good, apart from a “cloudy weatherin Crimea. Other Ukrainian sources claimed that the explosion resulted from rivalries between the Russian security services and military.
Discontent in high places
The main questions now focus on the military, even political, consequences of this event in Russia. At a time when difficulties were piling up for Moscow, certain proponents of the “war party“, very critical of the options taken by the Russian staff, have obviously used it as a pretext to push their fires. On Saturday evening, a Telegram site linked to Evguéni Prigogine, the boss of the mercenaries of the Wagner group, thus unduly announced the departure of the Minister of Defense, Sergei Choïgou, and the replacement of the Chief of the Defense Staff, General Valery Guerassimov .
On the other hand, dissatisfaction in high places over the conduct of operations led to the appointment on Saturday of a new commander of the “special military operationin Ukraine, Sergei Surovikin, 55 years old. In August 1991, Captain Surovikin’s unit signaled itself by killing three demonstrators during the current putsch in Moscow. Much later, he will command the Russian forces in Syria, where he will be credited with having turned the military situation to the benefit of Bashar el-Assad’s regime, – at the cost in particular of indiscriminate bombardments on the civilian populations, trailing behind him, according to his detractors, a reputation for violence and corruption, he was the only army general to be appointed head of the air force, in 2017, undoubtedly recognition of his great loyalty. General Surovikin had for some months been the head of the army group “Sudin the offensive in Ukraine.
What can Putin decide now during the security conclave he will convene on Monday? “Bomb the center of kyiv? It won’t change anything. Russia bombs Ukrainian cities every night“says political analyst Abbas Galliamov. “Use nuclear weapons? This would clearly be an inadequate answer. (…) It is impossible to pass off the explosion of the bridge as an existential threat“says this specialist who also recalls the words of Volodymyr Zelensky, Saturday at the BBC:”We won’t go further than our borders, it’s none of our business what happens to Putin, let the Russians take care of it…”