MOSCOW: A Russian court on Thursday jailed eight people for life over huge 2022 explosions that partially destroyed the Crimean bridge, an attack both Kyiv and Moscow said was organized by Ukraine’s secret services.
Five people were killed when the 19-kilometer (12-mile) bridge which links the Crimean Peninsula to Russia was hit by a truck bomb blast on October 8, 2022, eight months after Moscow attacked Ukraine.
Kyiv later claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying they were aimed at hampering Moscow’s logistics.
The Crimean Peninsula — annexed by Russia in 2014 — has been a key supply route for Moscow’s troops fighting in the south of Ukraine.
“The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment,” Russia’s southern military court in the city of Rostov-on-Don said on Telegram.
The men were tried in a closed-door hearing at a military court.
They have maintained their innocence throughout the trial and a lawyer told state media that the decision would be appealed.
The bridge is seen by both Ukraine and Russia as a symbol of Moscow’s 2014 seizure of the Crimean Peninsula.
President Vladimir Putin personally inaugurated the bridge, which links Russia to Crimea, in 2018 — even driving a truck across it.
Moscow had maintained the crossing was safe despite the fighting, but it has been targeted repeatedly throughout the war.
The men were charged with carrying out a “terrorist act” that caused death and illegally obtaining weapons as an organized group, the court said. Two were also charged with smuggling explosives.
Russia sentences eight to life for 2022 Crimean bridge blast
https://arab.news/nmuwj
Russia sentences eight to life for 2022 Crimean bridge blast
- Kyiv later claimed responsibility for the blasts, saying they were aimed at hampering Moscow’s logistics
- “The defendants were found guilty and sentenced to life imprisonment,” a court said
Ukraine, US, Europe still seeking common ground in peace talks, French official says
- French presidency official: “The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective”
PARIS: Ukraine, the United States and European powers are still working to find a joint position that would outline the contours of a peace deal, including security guarantees for Kyiv, that could be taken to Russia, a French presidency official said on Friday.
“Our goal is to have a common foundation that is solid for negotiation. This common ground must unite Ukrainians, Americans and Europeans,” the official told reporters in a briefing.
“It should allow us, together, to make a negotiating offer, a solid, lasting peace offer that respects international law and Ukraine’s sovereign interests, an offer that American negotiators are willing to bring to the Russians.”
The official said there was no joint document yet, but all sides would carry on negotiations in the coming days through various calls and meetings. He did not say whether Washington had set a deadline.
Kyiv is under pressure from the White House to secure a quick peace but is pushing back on a US-backed plan proposed last month that many see as favorable to Moscow.
Britain, France and Germany, along with other European partners and Ukraine, have been working frantically in the last few weeks to refine the original US proposals that envisaged Kyiv giving up swathes of its territory to Moscow, abandoning its ambition to join NATO and accepting limits on the size of its armed forces.
The French official said the talks aimed at narrowing differences with the United States and centered on territory and potential security guarantees for Ukraine once there is a peace accord.
Those discussions include the possibility of a NATO Article-5 type clause involving Washington that would seek to reassure Kyiv in case it was once again attacked by Russia, the official said.
The Europeans have also faced pressure in recent weeks with some American proposals touching on elements that concern NATO and the European Union, including suggestions on fast-tracking Ukraine’s accession to the bloc.
“The European perspective of Ukraine is clear and it’s a realistic perspective,” the official said. “That is what we are committed to and it is up to the Europeans and the Ukrainians to agree on how to proceed.”
