Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) detained eight people for their alleged connection to the bombing of the Kerch Strait Bridge or the Crimean bridge which links Russia with the Crimean peninsula.
The FSB said five of those who were held were Russians and the others were Ukrainian and Armenian, the BBC said in a report. Kyiv rubbished the findings of the FSB and said the investigation was ‘nonsense’.
The news of the arrests came at a time when explosions were heard in Ukraine’s Kherson, Zaporizhzhia and Nikopol. The BBC said in its report that Kherson, which remains under Russian control, also witnessed five explosions.
Russia is fuming following the blast on the Crimean Bridge with Russian president Vladimir Putin claiming that Ukraine engaged in an ‘act of terrorism’ by attempting to destroy a critically important piece of Russia’s civil infrastructure.
“All the activities of the FSB and [Russia’s] Investigative Committee are nonsense. They are fake structures which serve the Putin regime, so we’re definitely not going to comment on their latest announcements,” Ukrainian intelligence services spokesperson Andriy Yusov said, according to the BBC.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky urged the G7 and its allies to hit Russia with more sanctions following the airstrikes on Kyiv which killed 19 people.
The G7 held a crisis meeting in this regard and issued statements condemning the Kremlin but did not discuss any direct measure like the imposition of a price cap on Russian energy exports.
Polish Energy Supplier Detects Leak
Polish energy supplier Pern said it detected a leak in one pipeline in the Druzhba system. The Druzhba system allows gas from Russia to enter Europe via its pipelines. The news of the leak comes after leaks and explosions were reported on the Nord Stream pipelines in Swedish and Danish waters.
The parties in the conflict have subtly accused each other of sabotage and the new leaks in Pern’s gas pipelines are likely to create more tensions.
Europe is fearing a severe energy crisis following the war in Ukraine as it takes steps to reduce dependence on Russian energy. It has also imposed sanctions on import of Russian energy but it has failed to make the desired impact on the Kremlin.
Pern said the causes of the leak remain unknown.
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