![]() ![]() Whether or not Ukraine takes responsibility for the bridge blast, the episode is redolent of other attacks carried out by Ukrainian forces against targets that were highly symbolic and showcased Ukraine’s military ingenuity in the face of a much stronger, more heavily armed Russian military. Herman Galushchenko, Ukraine’s energy minister, said in a Facebook post on Saturday that there was only enough diesel fuel to operate the plant for about 10 days, adding that the professionalism of Ukrainian nuclear workers was now the only “safeguard against a possible nuclear accident.” The plant, Europe’s largest, has been disconnected from external power at least twice before, forcing it to rely on diesel generators to power safety equipment. It was not immediately known whether there were deaths or injuries.Īlmost at the same time, Russian shelling also damaged the last line connecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to Ukrainian energy systems, cutting it off from the power grid that is used to cool its reactors. Buildings, including a medical institution, were on fire, Kharkiv’s mayor, Igor Terekhov, wrote on Telegram. Photos of an explosion showed a red fireball lighting up the night sky, enveloped by a billowing cloud of dark smoke. “Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea,” he said.Įarly on Saturday Kharkiv in eastern Ukraine was rocked by explosions. President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine seemed to allude to the attack when he noted in his nightly address that Saturday “was a good and mostly sunny day” in Ukrainian territory. “A nightingale in Crimea meets the S.B.U.” “Dawn, the bridge is burning beautifully,” the agency posted on Twitter. Ukraine’s domestic intelligence agency, the Security Service of Ukraine, known by its Ukrainian acronym S.B.U., issued a statement rephrasing a stanza of a poem by Ukraine’s national poet, Taras Shevchenko. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning,” Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukraine’s president, wrote in a Twitter post on Saturday. While there were no official claims of responsibility, Ukrainian officials, who in the past have said the bridge would be a legitimate target for a strike, indicated that the explosion was no accident and made no secret of their satisfaction. The explosion caused two sections of the bridge to partly collapse. A small sedan and a tractor-trailer truck driving side by side appear at the epicenter of the blast. In video captured by a surveillance camera on the bridge, a huge fireball is seen, seeming to consume several vehicles. It was unclear if the driver of the truck, who died in the blast, was aware there were explosives inside. ![]() Russia’s National Anti-Terrorism Committee said in a statement that a truck had exploded on the automobile side of the bridge, igniting seven fuel cisterns being pulled by a train on a parallel rail line headed in the direction of Crimea. A Crime in Progress: The International Criminal Court’s arrest warrant for Putin over the forcible deportation of Ukrainian children highlights a practice that the Kremlin has not concealed and says will continue.Japan’s Prime Minister in Ukraine: Fumio Kishida, who has been seeking a more active role for his country in international affairs, made an unannounced trip to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine.Crimea: The Crimean Peninsula, which Russia seized from Ukraine in 2014, has become an increasingly attractive target for Kyiv.The two leaders declared an enduring economic partnership, reinforcing their shared opposition to American dominance. Xi’s Visit to Russia: President Vladimir Putin of Russia welcomed Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, in Moscow during a state visit carefully choreographed to project unity. ![]()
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