21 tons of TNT hidden in the truck
Intelligence chief describes attacks on the Crimean bridge
08/19/2023, 10:11 p.m
The Crimean Bridge is one of Putin’s prestige projects. But time and again the Ukraine succeeds in attacking them successfully. In an interview, the head of the Ukrainian secret service reveals some details of how the SBU acted. And he says, “We’ve been through the seven circles of Hell.”
The Kerch Bridge to Crimea is one of Russian President Valdimir Putin’s favorite projects – and one of the favorite goals of Ukrainians. In an interview with the “New Voice of Ukraine” The head of the Ukrainian secret service, Wassyl Maljuk, now explains in detail how the SBU proceeded in various attacks against the strategically important building.
Accordingly, last year he and two close associates were personally commissioned to attack the Crimean Bridge and to draw up plans for this. Apparently they were going through various options: “We considered different options. We thought of transporting explosives in freight cars. But the Russians have forbidden the transport of any goods on the railway part of the bridge, with the exception of military cargo.” Eventually, they decided to send a truck loaded with explosives across the bridge. The explosives were covered with cellophane wrap to prevent them from being detected by scanners. The large rolls, which would have looked like civilian cargo, would have filled an entire container. In total, the explosive material is said to have corresponded to 21 tons of TNT.
In the early morning of October 8, one day after Putin’s birthday, the truck then drove at high speed over the bridge towards Crimea. A little later it exploded, damaged several bridge piers and set fire to a train with fuel tanks that was traveling parallel on the railway bridge. According to Maljuk, he was able to follow the explosion in his office in real time – a camera is said to have recorded the attack.
The explosion was a psychological and logistical disaster for the Kremlin. Not only that several people died and traffic was stopped. Supplying Crimea, which Russia had annexed in violation of international law, and the occupied south of Ukraine was made significantly more difficult.
“We went through the seven circles of hell, we used so many people without their knowledge,” says Maljuk ten months later. Russia then put 22 people in prison. “They were all accused of being involved in an act of terrorism. But in reality they were just doing their job. They were just normal Russian smugglers.”
Attack with kamikaze drones
In the interview, Maljuk also describes a second attack on the bridge in July this year. Immediately after the first attack, the secret service began planning a new attack. According to it, Ukrainian intelligence officers designed explosive-laden, remote-controlled kamikaze boats out of a unique material said to be invisible to enemy radar.
Together with the Ukrainian Navy, the secret service finally launched the drones on the open sea in mid-July and aimed them at the target. “We didn’t sleep for two nights – we watched the drones every minute. We were so excited,” Malyuk said. The drones, which according to Ukrainian sources had 850 kilograms of explosives on board, eventually hit a bridge pier, destroying part of the roadway.
According to the “New Voice of Ukraine” it was important for Malyuk to emphasize that only Ukrainian forces and no foreign intelligence agencies were involved in the attacks. According to the report, Valeriy Kondratyuk, former head of the foreign intelligence service, speaks of a “very delicate task”. But he was obviously satisfied. The operations against the Crimean bridge were conducted in such a way that the Kremlin was inflicted with maximum damage and good relations with Western partners were not damaged.
A few days ago, Maljuk had official videos of the explosive boats published and emphasizes that the sea drones are a unique development of the SBU. The production takes place in an underground production facility on the territory of Ukraine, according to the head of the intelligence service. Maljuk also announced further deployments of explosive boats: “I promise you, it will be a surprise, especially for our enemies.”