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Russia opens criminal case against US citizen who called for blowing up Crimean Bridge

Investigators suspect him of calls for terrorist activity in Russian territory

© Sergei Malgavko/TASS

MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. Russia’s Investigative Committee has opened a criminal case against US citizen, who in a newspaper article called for blowing up the Crimean Bridge, IC spokeswoman Svetlana Petrenko told the media on Thursday.

Russian investigators suspect him of calls for terrorist activity in Russian territory.

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Kremlin blasts US paper’s ‘ugly journalism’ calling for blowing up Crimean Bridge

"Russian investigators believe that Tom Rogan’s article, openly accessible in the world web, has certain features of public calls for terrorist activity in the territory of Russia aiming to destabilize bodies of state power and influence their decisions (Article 205 of the Criminal Code)," Petrenko said.

Rogan published an article entitled Ukraine Should Blow up Putin’s Crimea Bridge on his own website and the website of the weekly Washington Examiner. He speculated that Ukraine had the means to launch air strikes against the bridge.

"The investigation has ordered a comprehensive psychological and linguistic examination. Pre-investigation checks are being made on the editor of the weekly online magazine Washington Examiner over the publication of Tom Rogan’s article," Petrenko said.

Earlier, acting presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the media that "this (article with a call for blowing up the bridge) can be regarded only as madness, as an ugly manifestation of low quality journalism worthy of attention of the law enforcers, including those in the United States."

The Crimean Bridge opened to motor traffic in a special ceremony on May 15.

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