A court in Moscow has issued a warrant for the arrest in absentia of Ukrainian Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa. The Russian side accuses the Vice Admiral of organizing the attack on the Kerch Bridge that took place in July 2023. The decision was made by the Basmanny Court of Moscow, charging the Ukrainian military with terrorism.
The Russian judicial system has finally approved the decision to arrest Ukrainian Navy Commander Oleksiy Neizhpapa in absentia, rejecting an appeal in the Moscow City Court. Now the vice admiral is charged with organizing terrorist acts, linking him to drone attacks on Russian border regions and the attack on the Kerch Bridge in the summer of 2023.
Interestingly, this is not the first time the Russian Interior Ministry has put the Ukrainian commander on the wanted list. Previously, he was charged with an attempt on the life of security forces, and the documents included such an absurd preventive measure as a travel ban. Now, the Russian authorities have moved to formally stricter procedures, accusing Neizhpapa, who has been head of the fleet since 2020, of planning large-scale operations using surface drones. So far, the Ukrainian command has not commented on these accusations, which are in fact Moscow's reaction to the loss of its fleet's dominance in the Black Sea.
Also, the Russian authorities decided to tighten control on the approaches to the Kerch Bridge on the eve of the New Year holidays.
To tighten control at the approaches to the Kerch Bridge, the Russian authorities will set up 212 checkpoints between December 26 and January 11. Of this number, 80 posts will be equipped for manual inspection, which will allow up to 17,500 vehicles per day.
Russian officials claim that the inspection infrastructure is capable of handling up to 1,100 vehicles per hour (650 from Taman and 500 from Kerch). The average inspection time for a passenger car will be about 7 minutes, and for a bus - up to 15 minutes.
