This time, they are shouting less about decision-making centres and more about the destruction of all Ukrainian bridges. And this time, they are really melted down, because they still remember the stories about the super-reliable security of this bridge. Beautiful pictures were drawn of combat divers, boats and air defence systems. There were even combat dolphins. But something must have gone wrong with the dolphins, as there were hits for the second time. In short, they are now walking around like they have been spat on.
But these screams are already familiar, and there is little new in the threats. But it's really interesting that the whole story with the bridge has absolutely no resonance with the attacks on Odesa and Mykolaiv. I mean, not at all. That is, now Russian propagandists are trying to present the strikes on Ukrainian ports as if they were "retaliatory strikes". But in reality, this is not the case at all.
“The Russian forces decided to attack Ukrainian ports a month ago. They also started talking about strikes on Ukrainian ports and specifically on grain terminals a long time ago. Solovyov gave the most vivid and outspoken speech on this back on 9 July. Of course, no one in the Russian Federation expected any strikes on the Crimean bridge at that time”
I'll say more, Russian propagandists have already prepared a provocation for July 17 that would allow them to shout about Ukrainian terrorists. The FSB filmed a ridiculous and extremely unconvincing video about "Nazis" who were detained for allegedly planning an assassination attempt on Margarita Simonyan and Ksenia Sobchak. They were going to distribute it on Monday. But the topic went completely sour against the backdrop of more vivid and real events. So much so that it was completely forgotten about on TV.
“And in the Kremlin's mind, the destruction of Ukrainian ports is a way for Russia to get out of the grain deal, but in a way that does not cause a quarrel with Erdogan. To destroy Ukraine's port infrastructure so that there is nowhere to ship agricultural products from. If there are no ports, there will be no dry bulk carriers. No ships - no grain deals. And there will be more hunger and migrants from Africa and Asia, which the Russians are always happy to organise”
Because the Kremlin does not want to extend the grain deals - these deals are very unpopular with the people in the hinterland. And it is very difficult to present them to the people in any other way than as personal corruption of Putin's entourage and, in general, humiliating for Russia to force Russians to peace and life in the civilised world.
In addition, the prospect has emerged that ships with Ukrainian grain may sail without Russia's consent. And then the situation will become even more humiliating for Russia, as it will clearly show how well the world can live if Russians do not control the Black Sea.
About the author. Olga Len, journalist at Espreso
The editors do not always share the opinions expressed by the authors of the blogs.