Putin’s henchmen call for “brutal reprisals” against Ukraine after Kerch bridge explosion: Let it be plunged into dark times

The Kerch Bridge, which connects Crimea with Russia, was heavily damaged on Saturday after a powerful explosion. Now Vladimir Putin’s supporters are calling for “tough reprisals” after the incident.

The damage to the bridge in Crimea is a major humiliation for the Russian leader, Politico journalists note. Saturday’s blast on the Kerch bridge sparked a chorus of calls for brutal retaliation against Ukraine among Russian public figures who support President Vladimir Putin.

Thus, these calls only increase the political pressure on Putin, who declared in September that Moscow is ready to use “all available means“to protect Russia and its people”if our country is threatened“.

“This is not a bluffPutin added, speaking during the announcement of the mobilization of 300,000 reservists for the war against Ukraine.

Sergei Markov, a Kremlin-linked politician and former lawmaker for Putin’s United Russia party, believes the “terrorist attack” on the Kerch bridge is proof that “The US and its Ukrainian proxy regime will move the red line further and further“.

“Terrorists must be dealt with unequivocally!”

“No response from Russia? Even further. And again? Even further”he wrote on social media, demanding a tough response from Moscow.

Konstantin Dolgov, a member of the upper house of the Russian parliament, also described the explosion as “a terrorist attack” and “another sinister manifestation of the terrorist nature of the puppet regime in Kyiv“.

Referring to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Dolgov said: “Terrorists must be dealt with unequivocally!”

Rodion Miroshnik, who until recently represented the Russian-backed Luhansk People’s Republic in Moscow, wrote on social media that “undamaged Ukrainian bridges over the Dnieper River look ridiculous against a burning Crimean bridge“.

The damage to the Kerch Bridge, which connects Russia to Crimea, the peninsula illegally annexed by Moscow in 2014, is not only a problem for Russia’s supply of manpower and weapons to its units in southern Ukraine. It is also a serious humiliation for Putin personally, coming on the morning after his 70th birthday.

The Russians are making harsh threats against Ukraine

Television journalist Vladimir Solovyov, sanctioned earlier this year by the EU for his propaganda activities, wrote on his Telegram channel: “It’s time to answer. By all available means“.

He said that Ukraine “tmust be plunged into dark times” and urged Russia to destroy bridges, dams, railways, thermal plants and other infrastructure facilities in Ukraine. According to international law, such deliberate destruction would be a war crime. The UN already said last month that Russia had committed war crimes in Ukraine, including bombing of civilian areas and summary executions.

Andrei Medvedev, a prominent television journalist and deputy chairman of the Moscow city council, said that “what will happen to us Russia depends, among other things, on the reaction of the authorities to today’s events“.