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Armenia launches criminal case over complicity in Crimean bridge blast

The decision was made after media publications to the effect the explosives used in the terrorist attack were hidden in a truck driven by an Armenian citizen who had entered Armenia from abroad and then proceeded towards Russia

YEREVAN, October 13. /TASS/. Armenia’s National Security Service has opened a criminal case over complicity in the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge.

"In order to verify the authenticity of information received and to clarify all the circumstances of the incident a criminal case has been initiated over complicity in international terrorism, smuggling of explosives across the EAEU border by a group of persons, as well as forgery of documents," the NSS’s press-service said in a news release on Thursday.

According to the press service, the decision to open criminal proceedings was made after media publications to the effect the explosives used in the terrorist attack were hidden in a truck driven by an Armenian citizen who had entered Armenia from abroad and then proceeded towards Russia.

"The preliminary investigation continues. In order to clarify the circumstances of the case urgent investigative and detective measures are being taken with all available legal means used. The National Security Service of Armenia will provide relevant information to the public," the news release reads.

On the morning of October 8, a truck was blown up on the Crimean bridge. Several tank cars of a freight train caught fire. Two spans of the automobile part of the bridge going towards the peninsula collapsed. The chief of Russia’s Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, said Ukrainian secret services were behind the terrorist attack. At the moment, two lanes of the Crimean bridge have reopened to car traffic only. Rail traffic has been restored. Trucks and passenger buses use a ferry service.

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