A military court in Russia on Thursday, November 27, convicted eight people on terrorism charges over a 2022 attack on the bridge linking Russia to illegally annexed Crimea. This bridge is a crucial supply route for Kremlin forces in the war with Ukraine, and the court sentenced all of the defendants to life in prison. The October 2022 attack occurred when a truck bomb detonated, destroying two sections of the bridge and requiring months of extensive repairs. The blast killed the truck driver and four other people in a nearby car. Moscow immediately denounced the attack as an act of terrorism and retaliated by bombarding Ukraines civilian infrastructure, targeting the countrys power grid over the subsequent winter.The Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) has since claimed responsibility for organizing the attack.
Eight people, including Russian, Ukrainian, and Armenian citizens, were arrested. Five others, including Ukrainian and Georgian nationals, were charged in absentia. Those charged, including Artyom and Georgy Azatyan, Oleg Antipov, Alexander Bylin, Vladimir Zloba, Dmitry Tyazhelykh, Roman Solomko, and Artur Terchanyan, faced charges of carrying out a terrorist attack and illegal arms trafficking, with Solomko and Terchanyan also accused of smuggling explosives.The Russian authorities accused the defendants of aiding Ukraine in organizing the attack. However, all of those arrested have denied the charges and insisted they were unaware the truck carried explosives, according to Russian media reports. Lt. Gen. Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU, stated in a 2023 interview that he and two other "trusted staff members" prepared the attack and used other people without their knowledge.The military court in Russias southern city Rostov-on-Don began trying the accused behind closed doors in February 2025. The Russian authorities have accused Maliuk of organizing the attack.Antipov, an entrepreneur whose logistics company handled the shipment, addressed the courtroom after the verdict, vehemently insisting on his innocence. We are innocent. We are innocent, he said. We all passed the polygraphs. We all proved our innocence. We cooperated fully. We went to law enforcement ourselves and gave our testimony. Not a single person has testified against us. All the witnesses say we are innocent. All the evidence says we are innocent.The 19-kilometer bridge over the Kerch Strait that links the Black and Azov seas carries heavy significance for Moscow, both logistically and psychologically. It serves as a vital artery for military and civilian supplies and acts as an assertion of Kremlin control over the peninsula it illegally annexed in 2014. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Ukraine has attacked the bridge twice: in October 2022 with the truck bomb, and again in July 2023 with sea drones, which killed two people. The bridge, which carries road and rail traffic on separate sections, is the longest in Europe and a subject of considerable pride in Russia. It was built despite strong objections from Ukraine and remains the most visible and constant reminder of Russias claim over Crimea.
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