Ukraine threatens; "Unacceptable - announcement of a terrorist attack"

Ukraine threatens; "Unacceptable - announcement of a terrorist attack"

"Such statements are nothing less than the announcement of a possible terrorist act. This is unacceptable. There are many signs of acts here that are subject to legal verification and subsequent punishment," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

The statement comes after Alexei Danilov, secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, said that Kyiv, if it had a chance, attacked the Crimean bridge a long time ago and that its forces would do so if possible.

"If we had the opportunity to do this, we would have already done it. If there is an opportunity to do it, we will definitely do it," Danilov said in an interview with Radio NV, when asked if Ukraine could attack the Crimean bridge, since it is used to send reinforcements.

Former Russian President and current head of the National Security Council Dmitry Medvedev also responded to the threat by writing on his Telegram channel that "one of the stubborn Ukrainian bosses spoke about the need to strike at the Crimean bridge. I hope he understands what will be the target of retaliation."

The construction of the Crimean bridge began in 2016, and was completed two years later. A multi-billion dollar infrastructure project connects the Crimean peninsula with the Krasnodar region in southwestern Russia. Being 19 km long, it is the longest bridge in Europe, and Russia used it to transport armored vehicles to the southern regions of Ukraine in the middle of an ongoing military operation.

At the end of February, Moscow launched a large-scale military operation in Ukraine after a seven-year conflict in Donbas and due to Ukraine's failure to apply the terms of the ceasefire agreement from Minsk. The protocols, mediated by Germany and France, were designed to regulate the status of breakaway regions in the Ukrainian state, but were never implemented.

Russia now demands that Kyiv recognize Russia's sovereignty over Crimea and the Luhansk and Donetsk People's Republics, and that it officially declare itself a neutral country that will never join NATO. Russia also said that the goal of the operation is to protect the population, as well as the demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine.