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The Kiev regime has finally claimed responsibility for last autumn’s attack on the Crimean Bridge, calling it a “milestone” for Ukraine.
On July 8, Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Anna Maliar published a post on Telegram commemorating 500 days since the start of the conflict between Kiev and Moscow, outlining several highlights.
The list includes an apparent public acknowledgment of Kiev’s role in the attack on the key link between the eastern part of the Russian peninsula and the rest of the country.
“[It has been] 273 days since the first strike was conducted on the Crimean bridge to break the Russian logistics,” Maliar wrote.
The Crimean Bridge was damaged in a truck explosion last October. Several people were killed in the attack, which also damaged the bridge. Moscow called the explosion back then a “terror attack” masterminded by the Ukrainian intelligence services, and responded by intensifying missile strikes on Ukrainian energy and military infrastructure. The bridge has been fully repaired since.
The Ukrainian acknowledgment came after Turkey released the leaders of the nationalist Azov battalion, who were captured by the Russian military during the battle of Mariupol.
President Volodymyr Zelensky collected the five previously imprisoned nationalist leader during his recent trip to Turkey. Russia was not informed of the decision to release them.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Sputnik that the return of the nationalist leaders from Turkey to Ukraine is a violation of the terms of the existing agreements both on the part of Ankara and Kiev.
“The return of the Azov leaders from Turkey to Ukraine is nothing more than a direct violation of the terms of the existing agreements. Moreover, in this case, the conditions were violated by both the Ukrainian side and the Turkish side,” Peskov said
No one informed Moscow about the step, the Kremlin spokesman said, adding that under the terms of the agreements reached, the Azov leaders had been supposed to stay in Turkiye until the end of the Ukraine conflict.
Peskov went on to link the surprising Turkish decision to release the five nationalist leaders to the failure of Kiev’s ongoing counteroffensive.
“This decision to hand over the Azov commanders to Zelensky in violation of the existing agreements, to return them to Ukraine, is certainly directly related to the failures of the counteroffensive. These are failures that the troops of the Kiev regime currently face every day,” Peskov said.
However, the Kremlin spokesman stressed that Russia understands very well that a lot of pressure was exerted on Turkey in the context of preparations for the upcoming NATO summit, and Ankara, being a member of the alliance, shows solidarity with it.
“Of course, preparations for the NATO summit are underway, and of course, in the context of this preparation, a lot of pressure was exerted on Turkey. And Turkey itself, of course, being a member of NATO, demonstrates its solidarity with the North Atlantic Alliance. We understand all this very well,” Peskov said.
The violation of the Turkish-brokered prisoners agreement shows that a political settlement for the conflict in Ukraine is still unrealistic. The Kiev regime now has a track record of violating agreements. Even the grain deal will likely collapse soon.
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