Thread by @ChrisO_wiki

1/ The second successful Ukrainian attack on the Kerch Bridge to Crimea in less than a year is reportedly leading to "harsh" recriminations among the Russian security forces, who failed to prevent both attacks and responded chaotically to the latest one. ⬇️

2/ According to the VChK-OGPU Telegram channel, the Russian Ministry of Defence, FSB, Rosgvardia and the local authorities are all pointing fingers at each other over who was to blame. The dispute echoes the arguments following last year's attack with a "harsh showdown" imminent.

3/ The bridge is meant to be protected by multiple layers of air, land and sea defences and security checkpoints at each end. The FSB's T (counter-terrorism) Directorate plays a key role in securing the bridge against attacks.

4/ The first attack, which seems to have been carried out using a large bomb hidden in a truck driven by a probably unsuspecting driver, got through the checkpoint at the Russian end of the bridge without being detected.

https://twitter.com/ChrisO_wiki/status/1580303771208339456

5/ VChK-OGPU reported earlier that this failure had led to the firing of T Directorate head Viktor Gavrilov and Deputy Minister of Transport Alexander Sukhanov, who was a T Directorate employee seconded to the Russian government.

6/ In May 2023, the T Directorate was reportedly instructed "to urgently strengthen control over the prevention and suppression of possible new attacks, including those using unmanned underwater vessels, on large water bodies, in particular the Crimean bridge."

7/ However this too has clearly failed: "There was not a single warning. The first explosion occurred when the bridge was filled with cars and security officers were routinely inspecting the flow. After the first blast, the lights stopped working.

8/ "Eyewitnesses reported that no backup generators were ever switched on. There was no "one moment" traffic closure either. Even after the second explosion, some cars turned round in panic and moved freely along the lanes.

9/ "The checkpoint officers did not block the entrance/exit for a long time, not knowing what to do with those in a hurry to get off the bridge."

10/ Now, reportedly, "a squabble has begun in the security agencies over who will be the ultimate culprit for [not preventing] the blowing up of the Crimean bridge. The head of the T Department of the FSB Sergey Demyanishnikov flew to the Krasnodar region yesterday.

11/ "Colonel Pyotr Oleinikov, deputy head of the T Directorate, who was appointed to this position after the first explosion on the bridge, is in charge of the Crimean bridge in the T Directorate.

12/ "At the moment, the management of the Directorate is trying to respond with certificates, saying that earlier they reported about possible sabotage attacks on the Crimean bridge.

13/ "Thus, the T Directorate is trying to remove responsibility for the explosion and shift the responsibility to the Ministry of Defence and Rosgvardia."

Sources:
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🔹 https://t.co/P8XbNakkyb
🔹 https://t.co/mqrKDn17obt.me/vchkogpu/38485
t.me/vchkogpu/40010
t.me/vchkogpu/40015