Large explosion on the bridge from Crimea to Russia
Russia’s Kerch Bridge in Crimea, a hated symbol of the Kremlin’s occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula, has been hit by a massive explosion on the section that carries rail traffic.
Footage from the bridge showed a fierce fire engulfing at least two train cars of a train on the bridge, accompanied by a vast plume of black smoke.
The explosion, which witnesses said could be heard from miles away, occurred around 6 a.m. Saturday as a train crossed the bridge, although it was not immediately known what caused it.
Some images appeared to show a second fire some distance from the main fire. Later images also emerged to show that part of the road bridge that runs parallel to the train tracks had collapsed.
Peter Beaumont in Kyiv has the story:
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The parliamentary leader of President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s party has stopped short of claiming that Kyiv was responsible for the Kerch bridge explosion, but appears to have issued it as a result of Moscow’s takeover of Crimea and the attempts to integrate the peninsula with the Russian continent.
“Russian illegal construction is starting to unravel and is catching fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, sooner or later it will explode,” David Arakhamia, leader of the Servant of the People party, wrote in Telegram.
“And this is just the beginning. Of all things, reliable construction is not something that Russia is particularly famous for,” he said.
Other Ukrainian officials were more celebratory while still not claiming responsibility, AP reported. Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksiy Danilov, posted a video on his Twitter with the burning Kerch Bridge on the left side and a video with Marilyn Monroe singing her famous “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” on the right side
In Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said “the reaction of the Kyiv regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure shows its terrorist character.”
In August, Russia suffered a series of explosions at an air base and a munitions depot in Crimea, underscoring its vulnerability.
Updated at 10.31 BST
Peter Beaumont
Twelve miles long and taller than the Statue of Liberty, the Kerch Bridge project on the occupied Crimea peninsula was the crown jewel of Vladimir Putin’s infrastructure projects, described in Russian media as the ” construction of the century”.
When the Russian president opened his highway on May 15, 2018, driving an orange Kamaz truck across the bridge, he boasted about its importance.
“At different historical times, even under the tsarist priests, people dreamed of building this bridge. Then they came back to it [idea] in the 30s, 40s, 50s. And finally, thanks to your work and your talent, the miracle has happened”.
Heavily defended since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, it was considered important enough for Moscow to warn of retaliation if the bridge was targeted.
But on Saturday morning, in circumstances that are still unclear, a huge explosion rocked the Kerch Bridge, collapsing part of the roadway to the Kerch Strait below and setting tankers on a train ablaze that crossed the second span of the bridge.
The enormous significance of the damage to the bridge, obliquely claimed by a senior adviser to Ukraine’s presidency, will become clear in the coming hours and days, especially if Moscow feels compelled to retaliate for the attack.
Updated at 09.50 BST
UK opposes Russian call for UN secret ballot
Britain has rejected Moscow’s call for a secret vote in the United Nations general assembly next week on whether to condemn Russia’s decision to annex four regions from Ukraine and has called on the 193-member body to vote publicly
Reuters reports that the general assembly is to vote on a draft resolution that would condemn Russia’s “so-called illegal referendums” and “attempted illegal annexation.” It also reaffirms Ukraine’s sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity, and calls on states not to recognize Russia’s move.
Moscow last week moved to annex Ukraine’s four regions – Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia – after holding “referendums” that have been denounced by Ukraine and its allies as illegal and coercive.
In a letter to UN states earlier this week, Russia’s UN ambassador, Vassily Nebenzia, pushed for a secret ballot, arguing that Western lobbying meant it “may be very difficult if positions are expressed publicly.”
Britain’s ambassador to the UN, Barbara Woodward, said on Friday that the rules of the general assembly were clear that any representative can request a recorded vote.
He wrote to the president of the general assembly:
Taking a secret ballot on a decision of the general assembly would go against decades of precedent and undermine the practices of the world’s most representative deliberative body.
A truck bomb has caused a fire and the collapse of a section of a bridge linking Russia with Crimea, according to Russian authorities.
The National Counter-Terrorism Committee said the bomb set fire to seven rail cars carrying fuel and caused a “partial collapse of two sections of the bridge”.
The committee did not immediately assign blame, the Associated Press reported. Putin was informed of the explosion and ordered the creation of a government panel to deal with the emergency.
The 12-mile bridge across the Kerch Strait connecting the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov is the longest in Europe.
It cost billions of pounds to build and has provided an essential link to the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
Ukrainian officials have repeatedly threatened to strike the bridge.
Updated at 09.10 BST
Damage caused by the explosion at the Kerch bridge earlier today.
Fire at the Kerch Bridge on the Kerch Strait, Crimea, Ukraine. Oct. 8, 2022. Photo: @KyivPost/TwitterFire on the Kerch Bridge on the Kerch Strait, Crimea, Ukraine. October 8, 2022. Photo: @KyivPost/Twitter
Here are some more images from the moment of the explosion on the Kerch Bridge from Russia to Crimea, a hated symbol of the Kremlin’s occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula.
Footage from the bridge showed a fierce fire engulfing at least two railway carriages of a train on the bridge, accompanied by a vast plume of black smoke, and half of the parallel road bridge collapsing in the Kerch Strait.
The explosion, which witnesses said could be heard from miles away, took place before 6am on Saturday as a train crossed the bridge.
The explosion of the bridge “the beginning”, says the presidential adviser of Ukraine
A Ukrainian presidential adviser posted a message on Twitter after conflicting reports of an explosion or fire that damaged the bridge connecting the Russian mainland to the occupied Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea on Saturday, calling it “the beginning” but without directly claim responsibility for Ukraine.
“Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled,” wrote Mykhailo Podolyak.
Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled. pic.twitter.com/yUiSwOLlDP
— Mykhailo Podolyak (@Podolyak_M) October 8, 2022
Updated at 09.32 BST
Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70th birthday with little fanfare on Friday, amid new signs that key parts of the Russian president’s invasion of Ukraine were unraveling and triggering unprecedented criticism at home, Reuters reports.
News programs made only passing references to the anniversary and public events were low-key, unlike just a week ago when Putin held a huge concert in Red Square to proclaim the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukrainian land .
Putin was shown on state television meeting with leaders of other former Soviet allies at an informal summit in St Petersburg.
A tram in Belgrade passes a billboard of a right-wing Serbian group wishing Vladimir Putin a happy birthday. Photo: Darko Vojinović/AP
Large explosion on the bridge from Crimea to Russia
Russia’s Kerch Bridge in Crimea, a hated symbol of the Kremlin’s occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula, has been hit by a massive explosion on the section that carries rail traffic.
Footage from the bridge showed a fierce fire engulfing at least two train cars of a train on the bridge, accompanied by a vast plume of black smoke.
The explosion, which witnesses said could be heard from miles away, occurred around 6 a.m. Saturday as a train crossed the bridge, although it was not immediately known what caused it.
Some images appeared to show a second fire some distance from the main fire. Later images also emerged to show that part of the road bridge that runs parallel to the train tracks had collapsed.
Peter Beaumont in Kyiv has the story:
Summary
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A series of explosions rocked Kharkiv early Saturday, sending plumes of smoke soaring into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions in the eastern Ukrainian city. The Associated Press reported that there were no immediate reports of casualties. The blasts came hours after Russia focused its attacks on areas it illegally annexed.
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Volodymyr Zelenskiy says Russian officials have begun to “prepare their society” for the possible use of nuclear weapons in war. The Ukrainian president denied calling for strikes in Russia and instead called for pre-emptive sanctions to be imposed on Moscow, in an interview with the BBC.
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Russia has attacked Zaporizhzhia with ‘kamikaze drones’ packed with explosives for the first time, as the death toll from a missile attack on an apartment building in…