Crimea: Ukraine’s ‘Sea Baby’ drone hit Putin’s precious bridge | World News

This is the moment Vladimir Putin’s precious $3.7 billion Crimean Bridge was hit with an experimental sea drone.

Footage shows the moments before the powerful explosion caused by the drone, called ‘Sea Baby’, which was armed with up to 850kg of explosives.

It is the first time Ukraine’s security services have openly claimed responsibility for the attack on the link between the annexed peninsula and Russia on July 17.

Vasyl Maliuk, head of the SBU, told CNN the kamikaze drone used was the result of months of development that began just after the war.

‘Sea surface drones are a unique invention of the Security Service of Ukraine,’ he said.

‘None of the private companies are involved. Using these drones we have recently conducted a successful hit of the Crimean bridge, the big assault ship Olengorskiy Gornyak and SIG tanker.’

Maliuk was referring to the SIG oil tanker hit in the Black Sea which Ukraine claims was carrying fuel for the Russian military.

He said about the final stage of the preparation: ‘We could not even think about sleep or food. We were fully concentrated on the operation.

‘The final last days were quite nervous. When the explosion happened, we were so happy and started congratulating one another.

‌’This was a very emotional moment for all of us and our victory, which will definitely come soon.’

Exclusive footage released to CNN shows the audacious attack by the ‘Sea Baby’ as it speeds to strike the bridge.

A separate video released by the SBU and Ukrainian sources shows the scale of the explosion from other angles as the strike hit the crossing which has separate road and rail links.

The main damage was to the road side of the bridge, disrupting supplies to the annexed peninsula.

Maliuk claimed responsibility, too, for an earlier strike on the bridge on October 8 last year involving a truck, but declined to give details.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.