‘The only response is direct elimination of terrorists’: former Russian president Medvedev comments on Crimea bridge blast

Deputy chairman of the Russian Security Council and former president Dmitry Medvedev has commented on the Crimean Bridge blast for the first time since the incident in an interview with Nadana Friedrichson. The interview was published on Friedrichson’s Telegram channel.

“This is an act of terrorism and a diversion carried out by the criminal Kyiv regime. There is no doubt of that, and there never has been. All the reports and conclusions have been made. Russia’s only response to this crime is direct elimination of terrorists. As is customary in the world. This is what the Russian citizens are waiting for,” Medvedev said.

He also commented on the “partial” mobilisation previously announced by Russian President Vladimir Putin. “The mobilisation is going as well as it can go in a country that has not had one for over 80 years. There is true patriotism, there are human emotions, there is regular negligence. But the main thing is that the country has united to protect our people and our Fatherland,” the former president said.

The bridge connecting Russia and Crimea suffered a heavy explosion on the morning of 8 September. The bridge partially collapsed, and a freight train transporting fuel caught fire. Three people were reported dead: the driver of the truck that exploded and two passengers of a vehicle that was driving nearby.

On 9 September, Russian President Vladimir Putin deemed the incident “a terror attack against Russia’s essential civilian infrastructure” and accused the Ukrainian special services of being behind the attack.

Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, also added that “Ukrainian nationals, as well as citizens of Russia and other countries, were involved in the planning of the terrorist attack”. He added that Russia was investigating this incident as an act of terrorism, and that the suspect had been identified.