Eight people were detained: the FSB called the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine the organizer of the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge

As part of the criminal investigation into the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge, eight people were detained and the organizer of the crime was identified.

This was reported by the FSB Public Relations Center.

“The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation, together with the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, established that the organizers of the terrorist attack on the Crimean Bridge were the main intelligence department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, its head Kirill Budanov, employees and agents,” the report says.

The ministry added that five citizens of Russia, three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia, who participated in the preparation of the crime, have been detained so far.

The FSB also presented the route and actions that were taken with the truck that exploded on the Crimean bridge on the morning of October 8.

It is noted that the explosive device was camouflaged in rolls with a construction polyethylene film on 22 pallets with a total weight of 22,770 kg and was sent from the seaport of Odessa to the Bulgarian Ruse in early August under a contract between Translogistik UA LLC and Baltex Capital SA To transport cargo from Bulgaria citizens of Ukraine Mikhail Vladimirovich Tsyurkalo, Denis Olegovich Kovach, Roman Ivanovich Solomko, citizens of Georgia Sandro Inosaridze, a broker named Levan and an Armenian citizen Artur Terchanyan were attracted to Georgia and then to Armenia.

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The cargo was cleared in accordance with the rules of the EAEU, the documents were replaced from September 29 to October 3, 2022 in Yerevan at the Transalliance terminal.

After that, its sender was GU AR GROUP LLC (Armenia), and the recipient was Lider LLC (Moscow).

Later, on October 4, 2022, on a DAF truck registered in Georgia, the cargo crossed the Russian-Georgian border at the Upper Lars checkpoint.

On October 6, the truck was unloaded at the wholesale depot of Armavir in the Krasnodar Territory.

On October 7, with the assistance of Solomko, a citizen of Ukraine Vladimir Vasilyevich Zloba and five more identified Russian citizens, the documents for the cargo were again changed, the sender was indicated LLC TEK-34 (Ulyanovsk), and the recipient was a non-existent company in the Republic of Crimea.

On the same day, the pallets were loaded into the truck of Russian citizen Makhir Yusubov, born in 1971, who left for Simferopol, and on October 8 at 06:03, an explosion was carried out while traveling along the Crimean bridge.

It is indicated that control over the movement of cargo along the entire route and contacts with participants in the criminal transportation scheme was carried out by an employee of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Ministry of Defense, who introduced himself as Ivan Ivanovich.

For coordination, he used both a virtual anonymous number purchased on the Internet and registered to a citizen of Ukraine Sergey Vladimirovich Andreichenko,

“The investigation into the attack is ongoing.

All its organizers and accomplices, including foreign citizens, will be held accountable in accordance with Russian law,” the FSB stated.

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On the morning of October 8, a truck was blown up on the automobile part of the Crimean bridge.

After that, seven fuel tanks of the train caught fire.

Two car spans of the bridge also partially collapsed.

According to the Investigative Committee, three people died, the bodies of two of them were found. 

At the same time, news agencies reported the day before that the death toll had increased to four.

On the evening of October 10, the chairman of the Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, reported to Vladimir Putin on the progress of the investigation of the criminal case initiated under the article “Terrorism”.

He noted that the route of the truck passed through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and the Krasnodar Territory.

At the same time, carriers were identified - persons who participated in organizing the movement of the truck.

In turn, the head of state stressed that the undermining of the Crimean bridge is directed against the critically important civil infrastructure of Russia.

“Here, as you just reported, there is no doubt: this is a terrorist attack aimed at destroying the critical civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation.

And the authors, performers, customers are the special services of Ukraine,” Putin said.