Putin justifies strikes on Ukraine’s energy facilities as revenge for Crimean bridge attack
Putin has attempted to justify Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure (Photo:Sputnik/Mikhail Metzel/Pool/Reuters)
Russian dictator Vladimir Putin has attempted to justify Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure by claiming it is retaliation for the October explosion that took the Kerch Strait Bridge out of commission, in a conversation with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, the Kremlin press service said on Dec. 2.
According to Moscow, Putin called the strikes on civilian infrastructure "forced and inevitable.”
He claimed that Russian troops "for a long time refrained from targeted missile strikes against certain targets on the territory of Ukraine,” and added that it was "a forced and inevitable reaction in response to Kyiv's provocative attacks against Russia's civilian infrastructure, including the Crimean bridge and energy facilities.”
During the conversation, Putin once again brought up Western weapon supplies to the Ukrainian military. The dictator said that this "leads to the fact that Kyiv completely rejects the idea of any negotiations,” despite having previously rejected any negotiation offers from Kyiv – as evidenced by the continued presence of Russian troops on Ukrainian soil.
Putin and Scholz also spoke about the grain initiative, where the Russian dictator asked the German chancellor to reportedly remove barriers to Russia’s implementation of it. However, no such barriers exist.
On Oct. 8, a powerful explosion damaged the Kerch Strait Bridge, built by the Russian occupation authority in Crimea to connect the peninsula to the Russian mainland. As a result, a span of the road bridge collapsed, igniting a passing fuel train. The resulting fire subsequently damaged the rail bridge as well. Russia has used the Kerch Strait Bridge to transfer armored vehicles and manpower to the south of Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials denied any involvement with the attack, suggesting it could have been a symptom of internal Russian power struggles.
At the same time, NV’s sources claim Ukraine’s SBU security service was behind the bombing. SBU press office did not provide a comment, adding that any discussion of potential ongoing operations will have to take place after the war concludes.
Russia has been waging a full-scale war against Ukraine for more than nine months, since Feb. 24. The Russian military strikes at Ukrainian cities throughout the country. The targets of attacks are residential buildings, hospitals and civilian infrastructure.
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