Moscow warns the West of 'retaliation'
(Baonghean.vn) - A spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry said that Kiev is openly preparing for a new attack on Russian territory with the support of Western countries supporting Ukraine.
According to RT, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said that any Western-backed Ukrainian attack on the Crimean bridge or Crimea itself would face strong retaliation from Moscow.
The warning comes after a recent post by Ukraine's special envoy to the United Nations, Sergey Kislitsa, in a threatening tone, implied that the bridge connecting the Crimean peninsula with the Krasnodar Region would cease to exist by the end of the year.
According to Ms. Zakharova, Kiev is openly preparing for a new attack on the Crimean Bridge, with the support of the West. She said at a press conference on May 3 that, ahead of May 9, Russia’s annual Victory Day commemorating the Soviet Union’s defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945, “the Kiev authorities and their Western masters are hatching plans for new terrorist attacks on Russian territory.”
“I want to warn once again Washington, London, Brussels that any aggressive action against Crimea will not only fail but will also be met with retaliation,” the diplomat said.
Moscow earlier condemned British Foreign Secretary David Cameron's statement during a visit to Kiev that Ukraine had the right to use weapons supplied by London to attack targets on Russian territory.
According to Ms. Zakharova, Kiev is expecting the arrival of US-made F-16 fighter jets, which could be used to destroy the 18-km-long road and railway bridge.
Senior Ukrainian officials have said destroying the Crimea bridge, also known as the Kerch bridge, was a top priority during their country's conflict with Moscow, saying it was a legitimate military target.
On May 1, Ukrainian envoy Kislitsa posted a post on X (formerly Twitter), sharing an image of a “list of 6 main types of bridges in 2024.” The example labeled “Kerch” shows a blank space.
Last week, Lithuania’s ambassador to Sweden, Linas Linkevicius, wrote on social media that the US supply of ATACMS missiles would lead to the destruction of the Crimean Bridge. The senior diplomat urged people to take selfies with the structure while they still could.
Moscow completed the construction across the Kerch Strait in 2020. Crimea voted to secede from Ukraine and join Russia in 2014, following a US-backed coup in Kiev earlier that year.
Since 2022, as simmering tensions between the neighbors have spiraled into open conflict, Kiev’s forces have repeatedly targeted the Crimean Bridge. In October 2022, the structure was hit by a massive bombing that killed five civilians. In another attack last July, a span of the bridge was blown up, killing two people and injuring a child.
Moscow sees Ukraine’s threats and tactics as confirmation that using military force against its neighbor was the right decision. Russian officials also say Kiev has escalated its sabotage and bombing campaigns because of its battlefield failures.
