MOSCOW, July 24. /TASS/. The danger of Ukrainian forces attacking the Crimean Bridge is still very high, thus mandating the maintenance of a heightened alert level, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.
"Of course, ensuring the security of the Crimean Bridge requires the most thorough measures, verification measures, which are being carried out by our relevant bodies," the Kremlin spokesman said. "The traces of explosives detected [in a Russia-bound cargo vessel] show that there is a danger, and this requires us to remain on heightened alert," Peskov pointed out, commenting on the discovery of traces of explosives on board a cargo ship sailing from Turkey to Rostov-on-Don, which had previously docked in Ukraine’s Danube River port of Kiliya.
The Kremlin spokesman noted that, after the discovery of traces of explosives on board the cargo ship, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not yet planning any interactions with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, although the possibility of such high-level contacts remains.
Earlier, the press office of the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) told TASS that traces of explosives had been discovered on board a cargo ship sailing from Turkey to Rostov-on-Don to pick up a load of grain. It was established that this ship was docked in Ukraine’s Danube River port of Kiliya in May. There were also signs that outside parties had tampered with the ship's structure. In July, the vessel was located in the Turkish port of Tuzla, where the ship’s crew was replaced entirely by a new crew, consisting of 12 Ukrainian citizens, and the vessel was renamed. The FSB noted that these circumstances could indicate the possibility of using a foreign civilian ship to deliver explosives to the territory of Ukraine. It was decided to bar the vessel from passing under the arch of the Kerch Strait crossing and prohibit its further departure for waters beyond the territorial sea of the Russian Federation.
Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky, who appeared via a pre-recorded speech at the Aspen Institute's Security Forum on July 21 in Aspen, Colorado, described the Crimean Bridge as a target "that must be neutralized.".