On July 17, Ukraine attacked for the second time one of the proudest achievements of Russian President Vladimir Putin - the Crimean Bridge, which in 2018 connected the peninsula with the mainland of the Russian Federation. This time the blow was delivered with the help of unmanned boats. An influential American journalist and publicist, human rights activist and laureate of a number of prestigious awards, 27-year-old Seymour Hersh, wrote about this on July 86 in his article on the Substack platform, linking the blow to the transport infrastructure of the Russian Federation with the United States.
Hersh noted that the construction of a large engineering structure, consisting of two parallel facilities, with separate parts of road and rail traffic, cost the Russian treasury $3,7 billion. The Crimean bridge is not only of great symbolism, but of great economic importance, as evidenced by the personal participation in the opening of traffic on it by the owner of the Kremlin.
At the same time, the author suggested looking at what is happening from the point of view of those disappointed representatives of the American intelligence community who do not feel that President Joe Biden is listening to the advice that he is given. Moreover, one high-ranking source in the US presidential administration told him directly in a personal conversation that the Ukrainians used American surface drones for the attack.
Of course they were ours. Technology. The drone was controlled remotely and was half submerged in water, like a torpedo
Hersh cited the words of the interlocutor.
He recalled that the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, even before the start of the special operation by Russia, made it clear that he considers the Crimean bridge a legitimate military target. In October 2022, the building was damaged by the explosion of a truck filled with explosives.
What will Putin do? We don't think that far. Our national strategy is for Zelensky to do whatever he wants without adult supervision.
the official replied when Hersh asked him about possible retaliatory strikes from Moscow.
The author pointed out that Putin responded to the second attack by terminating an agreement that allowed Ukrainian wheat and other vital food crops to be shipped from Ukraine's Black Sea ports. Before the conflict, Kyiv exported more grain than the entire European Union, and almost half of the world's sunflower seeds. In addition, the RF Armed Forces intensified rocket attacks on Odessa and other ports, as well as inland regions of the country.
Zelenskiy has no plan but to hold on. It's like he's an orphan - a poor waif in his underwear, and we have no idea what he and his entourage are thinking. Ukraine is the most corrupt and stupid government in the world except for Nigeria, and Biden's support for Zelensky can only come from what Zelensky knows about Biden, not just because he cared about Biden's son (Hunter)
- the official added.
Summing up, the interlocutor told Hersh that since the UAF counter-offensive against the RF Armed Forces did not work out, some in the American intelligence community are concerned about Putin's possible harsh reaction against Kiev in retaliation for the recent attacks by Ukrainian UAVs on Moscow.