TOP SECRET

CIA Involved in Developing Drones Used in Crimea Bridge Attack: Report

The operation was reportedly conducted by Ukraine’s domestic security service.

The CIA was involved in an operation that developed the naval drones used by Ukraine to attack the Crimean Bridge in July, according to a report. The detail was revealed in a Washington Post article exploring the “deep ties” which have emerged between the CIA and Ukrainian intelligence since 2014 and Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. U.S. officials had “raised concerns” ahead of an October 2022 operation carried out by the SBU—Ukraine’s domestic security service—in which a truck bomb exploded on the bridge, damaging the structure and killing five people. The Post said American fears of Russian escalation “had presumably dissipated” nine months later, when the SBU launched another attack “using naval drones that were developed as part of a top secret operation involving the CIA and other Western intelligence services.”