RUSSIAN PRESIDENT VLADIMIR Putin has blamed Ukrainian secret services for the huge blast a day earlier that ripped through Russia’s Crimea bridge, which he described as a “terrorist act”.

“The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services,” Putin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies during a meeting with the head of the investigation committee.

The 19-kilometre bridge was attacked at dawn yesterday, sparking celebrations from Ukrainians and others on social media. Dramatic footage showed it burning and a road section plunging into the water.

Following the blast, the bodies of an unidentified man and a woman were pulled out of the water, probably passengers in a car driving near the exploded truck, Moscow said.

Authorities had identified the owner of the truck as a resident of Russia’s southern Krasnodar region and said his home was being searched.

The bridge is logistically crucial for Moscow – a vital transport link for carrying military equipment to Russian soldiers fighting in Ukraine.

It is also hugely symbolic. President Vladimir Putin personally inaugurated the structure in 2018 – even driving a truck across it – and Moscow had maintained the link was safe despite the fighting.

While some in Moscow hinted at Ukrainian “terrorism”, Russian state media continued to call it an “emergency situation”.

Zelenskyy’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak posted a picture on Twitter of a long section of the bridge half-submerged. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning,” he wrote.

But in a later statement, he appeared to suggest Moscow had a hand in the blast, noting the truck that detonated “entered the bridge from the Russian side”.

Officials in Moscow previously stopped short of blaming Kyiv but a Russian-installed official in Crimea pointed the finger at “Ukrainian vandals.”

Military analysts said the blast could have a major impact if Moscow saw the need to shift already hard-pressed troops to Crimea from other regions or if it prompted a rush by residents to leave.

Authorities in Crimea tried to allay fears of food and fuel shortages in the territory, which has been dependent on the Russian mainland since its annexation from Ukraine.

Putin will chair a meeting of his Security Council on Monday in the wake of the bridge attack, the Kremlin told Russian media.

© AFP 2022