Russia Blames U.S. for Crimea Bridge Attack as Video Shows Colossal Damage

An alleged attack on Crimea's Kerch Bridge was carried out with the "direct participation" of the U.S. and the U.K, Moscow has said, as video reveals the extent of the damage.

The Russian foreign ministry made the claim in a statement following Monday morning's explosion on the 12-mile-long structure, which links the transport network of Russia and the Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow in 2014.

Russia's Grey Zone Telegram channel reported that there had been two strikes on the bridge at 3:04 a.m. and 3:20 a.m. local time, although this has not been independently confirmed.

The bridge opened in 2018 and has a separate roadway and railway supported by concrete stilts. There is a wider span where ships pass between the Black Sea and the smaller Azov Sea.

Video taken from a train going over the rail bridge shows damage to the structure with a section of the road split and sloping to one side.

"Today's attack on the Crimean bridge was carried out by the Kyiv regime," ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Telegram. "This regime is terrorist and has all the hallmarks of an international organized crime group.

"Decisions are made by Ukrainian officials and the military with the direct participation of American and British intelligence agencies and politicians.

"The U.S. and Britain are in charge of the terrorist state structure," it added, without offering further details.

In response to Moscow's claims, a British foreign office spokesperson told Newsweek in a statement, "this is baseless speculation from Russia and we will not dignify it by commenting further."

The U.S. State Department referred Newsweek to comments by Secretary of State Antony Blinken made in his briefing on Monday that "this is a situation that we're monitoring, and I don't really have anything in particular to offer on that."

"Of course, Ukraine has to decide how it conducts this war in defense of its territory, its people, its freedom," he said.

Newsweek has contacted Ukraine's defense ministry for comment.

Two people from Russia's Belgorod region, a mother and father, were killed and their daughter was injured in the incident, the region's governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram.

Kyiv's response to the incident was ambiguous.

Ukraine's military intelligence department spokesman Andriy Yusov said that Crimea was "used by the Russians as a large logistical hub for moving forces and assets deep into the territory of Ukraine and that logistical problems are "additional complications" for Moscow. Natalia Humeniuk, the spokesperson for Ukraine's southern military command, said that the blasts could have been "provocations" by Russia, Reuters reported.

However, the BBC cited a Ukrainian intelligence source that the attack was carried out by surface drones and conducted by Kyiv's naval forces and domestic security service, the SBU.

The Ukrainian site censor.net also reported that Ukraine's domestic security agency the SBU was behind the attack, citing security service sources. It noted how the organization head, Vasyl Malyuk, had previously said the bridge was a legitimate target.

The Russian-installed head of Crimea's parliament, Vladimir Konstantinov, said that Ukraine was behind the incident, which he described as a "new crime", although he said that the railway part of the bridge was undamaged.

In October 2022, Russia blamed Ukraine for an attack on the bridge, which is considered by Kyiv as a symbol of Moscow's occupation of Crimea.

It is unclear what the latest damage to the bridge will mean for the U.N.-brokered deal that expires on Monday and allows the safe Black Sea export of Ukrainian grain.

Update 07/18/23, 5 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with a response from the British foreign office and the U.S. State Department.