Ukraine claimed responsibility for a bridge explosion in Crimea last year.

 In October of last year, the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU) claimed responsibility for an attack on the Crimean bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean Peninsula. The SBU's chief, Vasyl Malyuk, revealed on Ukrainian state television on Wednesday that his agency was behind the attack on the Crimean bridge that killed three people. "There were numerous operations, including special operations." Some of them we'll be able to talk about publicly and loudly after the triumph, while others we won't be able to talk about at all," Maljuk added. "The destruction of the Crimean bridge on October 8, last year," he stated, is one of our activities.

Last October, a truck bomb exploded on the main road and rail route between the Russian Federation and Crimea. The bomb set fire to seven oil tankers being transported by rail to Crimea, causing a massive conflagration and killing three persons. At the time, Russia blamed Ukraine for the bridge attack, claiming that it was orchestrated by Ukrainian military intelligence and its head, Kyrylo Budanov. Ukraine denied any involvement in the blast. Ukrainian Presidential Advisor Mykhailo Podolyak, on the other hand, stated that the blast was "just the beginning."

Following the October incident, Russian President Vladimir Putin restored the bridge and even drove a vehicle across it. The bridge, which was built on Putin's instructions, was opened in 2018, four years after Crimea voted in a referendum to join Russia. The new development comes as Kiev's attacks on the peninsula have intensified in recent weeks. A Ukrainian drone strike on infrastructure sites in Crimea on Saturday prompted mass evacuations and momentarily halted traffic on the Crimean bridge. Moscow accused Ukraine for the attack, which it said was carried out under the auspices of the United States and the United Kingdom. A little girl was murdered and many administrative buildings were destroyed in a separate Ukrainian raid on Crimea last Wednesday.

Since Moscow started its military offensive against Kiev in February last year, Ukraine has frequently targeted Crimea with drone attacks. Russia initiated the effort, among other things, to resist NATO's continuing eastward expansion and to cease Kiev's repression of the pro-Russian population in eastern Ukraine. Moscow also accuses Ukraine of striking Russian targets, despite the fact that Kiev has never formally claimed credit for any strikes.