Ukrainian Media: Russia planning to blow up Crimean bridge and blame Ukraine for it
Russia's special services are considering the possibility of committing sabotage "under a false flag" against their own infrastructure facilities, including the Crimean Bridge, in order to blame Kyiv and use it as a pretext for a military invasion of Ukraine, reports Telegram channel InformNapalm, citing its sources in the annexed Crimea.
According to InformNapalm, Russians are carrying out secret underwater technical work in the restricted area surrounding the bridge over the Kerch Strait.
"For unknown reasons, the Russian special services are carrying out underwater technical work in one of the restricted areas to allegedly clean the sea dispersing outlets of the Kerch Strait bridge. Such work is carried out in conditions of strict secrecy and a ban on the use of any radio communication," InformNapalm reports.
According to InformNapalm, in early February, Russia also tested of an unmanned watercraft at the 561st emergency rescue center in Sevastopol. This center is used not only for training of rescue divers, but also for training servicemen of the Russian Special Operations Forces . These are commandoes whose task is the destruction of ships and coastal infrastructure.
InformNapalm analysts draw attention to the fact that the above-mentioned maneuvers are carried out amid a propaganda campaign in Russia about the alleged "terrorist threats coming from Ukraine."
"This information supplements the earlier assumptions that the Russians are preparing to blow up the bridge supports and subsequently accuse Ukraine," InformNapalm said.
On February 10, the Ukrainian Security Service (SBU) announced the detention of a group of Ukrainian citizens recruited by Russian special services to commit provocations on the territory of the Russian Federation. According to SBU, the Russian authorities planned to use this to justify their invasion of Ukraine.