Moscow court apprehends three suspects over Crimea Bridge attack

A district court in Moscow charged three suspects in the Crimea Bridge case on Monday, the press service of the court said in an official statement, according to Russian state-owned news agency TASS.

Moscow’s Basmanny District Court apprehended Alexander Bylin, Oleg Antipov and Dmitry Tyazhelykh for the attack which occurred on the bridge on October 8 morning, when a truck went up in flames and set seven fuel tankers on fire. The explosion resulted in four casualties and the collapse of a lane. 

"Moscow’s Basmanny District Court considered requests filed by preliminary investigation bodies that Alexander Bylin, Oleg Antipov and Dmitry Tyazhelykh, accused of committing a crime under Article 205.2 of the Russian Criminal Code (terrorist attack), should be taken into custody as restrictive measure. The court ruled that they be held until December 8 as a pre-trial condition," the statement read.

All you need to know about the Crimea Bridge blast

The Russian Investigation Committee previously said that 12 people who had a direct connection to the attack had been identified by the authorities. Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Security Council meeting said that the explosion was an act of terrorism. 

"The data of forensic and other examinations, as well as operational information, indicate that the explosion, arranged on October 8, is a terrorist act, a terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia's civilian, critical infrastructure," Putin told the council, according to a post by the Kremlin on Telegram.

Russia, which has accused Ukraine of the blast, launched several long-range missiles against Kyiv on October 10 as an act of retaliation. "This morning, at the suggestion of the Ministry of Defense, and according to the plan of the Russian General Staff, a massive air, sea and land-based high-precision long-range weapon was launched against Ukrainian energy, military command and communications facilities," Putin said.

"Russia’s responses will be tough and in scale that will correspond to the level of threats posed to us. No one should have any doubts about this,” he asserted last week. 

The Crimea Bridge, which is also known as the Kerch Bridge, is the longest bridge constructed by Russia. Prior to the explosion, it played the key role of connecting Russia and Crimea and was a symbol of the “reunification” of the two lands.