October 8, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

Maxar satellite images captured the damage to the Kerch Strait bridge Saturday, shortly after an explosion rocked the only direct road and rail connection between annexed Crimea and mainland Russia.

The blast caused parts of the bridge to collapse, though Russian transportation officials restarted rail service and allowed vehicles to use some undamaged portions of the roadway by Saturday evening.

The Crimean bridge explosion accelerates the strategic choices Russian President Vladimir Putin must make about Russia’s occupation of southern Ukraine.

This entire presence was already poorly supplied, managed and in retreat. Rickety ferry crossings in bad weather or highly dangerous air cargo flights may now be needed to bolster military shipments into Crimea and toward the frontlines.

Ukraine has been targeting Russia’ aging transport dependencies — particularly its reliance on rail — with slow, patient accuracy. First Izium, which led to the collapse around Kharkiv. Then Lyman, which is leading to the erosion of Russia’s control of Donetsk and Luhansk. And now the Kerch Strait bridge, which had become so vital to everything that Russia is trying to hold on to in the south.

Putin now faces a series of expedited and painful decisions, all of which will severely belie his continued poker-face of pride and bombast toward the gathering signs of slow defeat.

To the west of the Dnieper river, his army in Kherson is besieged by fast-moving Ukrainian forces. Putin’s troops are already in retreat, partially owing to the same poor resupply that will be accentuated by the Kerch blast.

They are again cut off from this faltering supply line by another series of damaged or targeted bridges across the Dnieper. Over the past week, they have already fallen back over 500 square kilometers (about 193 square miles).

Can Moscow sustain this force over two damaged supply routes? A precarious presence has perhaps overnight become near-impossible.

The second point of decision relates to Crimea. Putin now faces the difficult choice of fortifying it further with depleted forces who face resupply issues, or partially withdrawing his military to ensure their significant resources on the peninsula do not get cut off.

Putin must choose between feeding his larger ambitions with a dwindling chance of success or consolidating forces around an objective he has a greater chance of achieving.

One carries the risk of catastrophic collapse, for his entire brutal adventure into Ukraine — and quite possibly, his rule. The second leaves him with an immediate loss of face, but a stronger chance of sustaining the occupation of smaller parts of Ukraine.

Read Nick Paton Walsh’s complete analysis here.

Freight trains are moving again on the Crimean bridge following an explosion early Saturday, and 12 passenger trains should pass through the railway line overnight, according to Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin.

Khusnullin also said that so far, one lane of car traffic is moving on the bridge, and the goal is to open two lanes to traffic by morning.  

“We have visually inspected the Crimean bridge, you already know that one lane of traffic has been launched, the task is to prepare everything overnight and tomorrow launch traffic in two lanes,” Khusnullin told Crimean media. 

While Russian officials said that a limited amount of car traffic had resumed on the undamaged sections, trucks were told to take ferries across the Kerch Strait, state media reported.

The Russian Ministry of Transport announced that trains have permission to run on the Crimean bridge, and the first test train run on the railway track was successful. 

The Telegram channel of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Crimean Railway said that after the first stage of repairs to the bridge, a train with 15 cars passed through it. 

An explosion on a bridge linking Russia with Crimea dealt a strategic and symbolic blow to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war effort. Meanwhile, more shelling near the Zaporizhzhia power plant renewed fears of a possible nuclear accident.

If you’re just joining us, here’s the latest:

Here are the current frontlines and the location of the Kerch Strait bridge connecting Russia to Crimea:

NATO needs to work on strengthening its defense, German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said Saturday.

“We live in serious times, and in such times, it is also important to know where we have gaps in defense. The air defense is one such area where it is urgent to act,” Lambrecht said while visiting German troops deployed in Lithuania.

Germany also announced more weapon deliveries for Ukraine, including the IRIS-T air defense system, and a total of 100 tanks from Greece and Slovakia.

Facing an increased security threat, Germany will also create a new armored infantry brigade that could be quickly deployed to Lithuania in times of need, Lambrecht added.

Train service on the Crimean bridge was restored Saturday evening as routes from the cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol depart to Moscow, according to a statement published by the operator of the passenger train service.

The Russian Grand Service Express carrier company said Saturday that the “double-decker train No. 28 Simferopol-Moscow left the capital of Crimea today at 17:10 according to the schedule. Train No. 8 Sevastopol-St. Petersburg left Sevastopol at 17:15.”

The structure has separate infrastructure for its rail and roadway bridges, which run parallel to one another.

Car traffic on the undamaged part of the road bridge has also resumed, according to the Russian-appointed head of Crimea.

Car traffic on the undamaged part of the Crimean bridge has resumed, said the Russian-appointed head of Crimea, Sergey Aksenov, in a statement on his Telegram channel on Saturday.

“At the moment, traffic is open to cars and buses with a full inspection procedure. We ask truck drivers to plan their route using the Kerch ferry crossing. The Kerch-2 ferry will begin to sail across the strait in two hours,” he said.

Social media video reviewed by CNN indicates that the westbound lanes on the road bridge were severed, but eastbound lanes appear intact. 

Cars have begun to pass over the Crimean bridge from Taman on the Russian mainland toward the Crimean peninsula en route to the city of Kerch, Russian state media RIA Novosti reported on Saturday.

Russian state media RIA Novosti reported Saturday that the Minister of Transport of the Crimean Republic Nikolai Lukashenko said ships with a capacity of 100 people will be launched to take passengers between Crimea and Russia’s Krasnodar Territory as an alternate method of transport. 

According to Aksenov, railway communication on the bridge is set to be renewed by the end of the day.

The pro-Russian militia of the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic said its units are carrying out an offensive to the west of the city of Donetsk, advancing into the village of Pervomaiskoye.

The area — near the city’s now defunct and destroyed airport — has seen constant fighting for several months.

The DPR militia said in a statement on its Telegram channel Saturday that its units “continue their successful advance and are cleaning up the village of Pervomaiskoye. The actions of the assault groups are supported by artillery, the fire of which is adjusted using unmanned aerial vehicles.”

The militia also published a video purporting to show its progress toward taking the village.

Ukraine’s military has said that its forces have resisted several attempts to capture Pervomaiskoye this week.

The European Union “condemns in the strongest possible terms” Russia’s attempted seizure of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant and the declared annexation of four Ukraine regions, the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said Saturday.

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree that puts the plant under Russian state control and amends the country’s constitution by admitting new regions into Russia.

The EU “does not recognise and strongly condemns Russia’s illegal annexation of Ukraine’s Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson regions. Consequently, the decree on the seizure of the ZNPP is illegal, and legally null and void,” Borrell said in a statement.

Borrell urged Russia to “fully withdraw its military forces and equipment and hand back control of the NPP to its rightful owner, Ukraine.”

The EU’s top diplomat also stressed that a “reinforced” presence by the UN’s nuclear watchdog at the site and “its unhindered access to the plant are urgently needed in the interest of the security of Europe as a whole.”  

The power plant lost all external power sources Saturday due to renewed shelling and is now relying on emergency diesel generators, the International Atomic Energy Agency and Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom said.

The Ukrainian Postal Service will issue new stamps that feature the damaged Kerch Strait bridge, which connected Crimea to Russia, its CEO announced on Saturday.

“I will not wish you a good day, because it is already wonderful. The Kerch bridge is done,” Ukrposhta head Igor Smelyansky said.

The stamp will feature two figures who resemble Hollywood stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet in their iconic pose from the 1997 film “Titanic.” 

There is also an envelope with an image of Crimea breaking handcuffs with Russia in the images shared by Smelyansky.

The price of the stamp will be 18 Ukrainian hryvnia ($0.48) each, and Kyiv plans to print 7 million copies for circulation, according to Smelyansky.

Some context: Beyond being the only bridge connecting annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland, the structure had major symbolic significance for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective to take over Ukraine and bind it to Russia forever.

The UN’s nuclear watchdog condemned new shelling near Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which just disconnected the plant from Ukraine’s power grid, according to its operator.

The resumed shelling is “tremendously irresponsible,” International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said Saturday in a press release.

The last power line connecting the plant to Ukraine’s power grid was damaged and disconnected Saturday due to attacks by Russian forces, according to the Ukrainian nuclear operator Energoatom. The plant is now relying on diesel generators.

“The resumption of shelling, hitting the plant’s sole source of external power, is tremendously irresponsible. The Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant must be protected,” Grossi said on Saturday. 

“All the plant’s safety systems continue to receive power and are operating normally, the IAEA experts were informed by senior Ukrainian operating staff at the site,” he added in the release.

“Although the six reactors are in cold shutdown, they still require electricity for vital nuclear safety and security functions. The plant’s diesel generators each have sufficient fuel for at least ten days. ZNPP engineers have begun work to repair the damaged 750 kV power line,” according to the release.

Grossi stressed that the plant “must be protected” and added that he will “soon travel to the Russian Federation, and then return to Ukraine, to agree on a nuclear safety and security protection zone around the plant. This is an absolute and urgent imperative.”

What Russian officials say: The plant can be put back into operation, said Vladimir Rogov, who is a senior pro-Russian official in the regional Zaporizhzhia government. 

“Now the nuclear power plant has been switched back to the emergency mode of operation. The last power line that connected it with the right bank, with the territories controlled by [Ukrainian President Volodymyr] Zelensky’s regime, has been cut. For now, the nuclear power plant can only be powered by diesel generators, and this is an unusual means,” Rogov said while speaking to the pro-Kremlin “Soloviev Live” show on Saturday.

“We have every possibility to restore the nuclear power plant and put it into operation,” he added. 

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03:37 - Source: cnn

Surveillance video from cameras on the Kerch Strait bridge shows the moment a large explosion rocked the roadway, disabling the only bridge connecting annexed Crimea to the Russian mainland.

CNN’s Fred Pleitgen reports that top Russian officials have already blamed the attack on Ukraine, which has not formally taken credit for the blast — though government and military officials have posted several gloating messages online.

In Kyiv today, Ukrainians stopped to pose for a selfie in front of a billboard depicting the burning bridge.

The explosion on Russia’s bridge to Crimea not only strikes a blow against Russia’s military effort in Ukraine, it’s also a psychological blow to Moscow and a major propaganda victory for Ukraine. 

Russia began constructing the enormous 19-kilometer (about 12-mile) bridge over the Kerch Strait, spending an estimated $3.7 billion, after Moscow illegally annexed Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014. It was the physical expression of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s objective to take over Ukraine and bind it to Russia forever. The day it opened, he led a triumphant convoy over the bridge, driving a truck festooned with flags. 

Russia’s propaganda industry went into overdrive, even producing a romantic comedy about the bridge called “The Crimean Bridge, Made with Love,” a rom-com about two guys working on building the bridge pursuing the same cute archaeology student. The screenplay was written by Margarita Simonyan, the head of Russia’s main international propaganda TV channel RT.

The explosion on the Crimean bridge early Saturday was hardly extinguished before the trolling — a major weapon in this war — began.

The attack took place the day after Putin turned 70, and Ukraine’s Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council Oleksiy Danilov published video of the bridge in flames, with a huge section of the roadway collapsing into the water, alongside a parallel video of Marilyn Monroe singing “Happy Birthday, Mister President.” Others online compared the bridge attack to Ukraine’s April sinking of the Russian Navy’s warship the Moskva.

Putin’s government scrambled to insist that the damage was under control and would be repaired quickly. The state news agency TASS avoided the word “attack,” reporting that a team of 380 responders, along with 90 pieces of equipment, was dispatched to “eliminate the consequences of the emergency” on the bridge. The Russian Transport Ministry said the railway section of the bridge, vital for bring troops and equipment for the war effort, would be restored by Saturday evening. Russia’s Investigative Committee immediately launched a criminal investigation.

Online, Ukraine was triumphant about striking such a key Russian military and symbolic objective. And Ukrainian presidential aide Mykhailo Podolyak warned there could be more attacks ahead in a tweet, saying “everything occupied by Russia must be expelled.” 

The Russian Defense Ministry has announced the appointment of a new commander for what it calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, according to Russian state media.

The ministry said that Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu has approved the appointment of Gen. Sergey Surovikin as commander of Russia’s “Joint Grouping of Forces” in Ukraine. 

Russian state news agency TASS said the ministry’s spokesman, Igor Konashenkov, made the announcement Saturday.

Who is Surovikin? The appointment for Surovikin, who turns 55 on Oct. 11, is the latest promotion in a military career that began in 1983. He’s served in several conflicts and faced sanctions by the European Union.

Surovikin first saw service in Afghanistan before commanding a unit in the Second Chechen War. He has also served as head of the Main Operational Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian Armed Forces.

He commanded several motorized rifle divisions and was instrumental in Russia’s operations in Syria, when Russian combat aircraft caused widespread devastation in rebel-held areas. In 2017, he was appointed commander in chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces and was promoted to be an Army general last year. 

While in Syria, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation.

He was sanctioned by the European Union in February this year in his capacity as head of the Aerospace Forces during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Russian troops in southern Ukraine will be resupplied by sea and land corridor, following Saturday’s explosion on the Kerch bridge, the country’s Ministry of Defense said.

Strategic importance: The Russian military has used the bridge extensively to resupply its forces in Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. It’s unclear how long the road and rail bridges across the Kerch Strait will be out of service.

The Ministry said on its Telegram channel: “The provision of the Russian group of troops involved in the special military operation in the Nikolaev-Krivoy Rog and Zaporozhye [Ukrainian: Mykolaiv - Kryvyi Rih - Zaporizhzhia] operational directions is carried out continuously in full along the land corridor and partially by sea transport.”

Ukraine recaptures territory in south: Kyiv is successfully pushing ahead in its campaign to retake parts of southern and eastern Ukraine that Russia captured in the initial weeks of the war.

The Ukrainian military has recaptured 2,400 square kilometers of territory in Kherson region in the south of the country “since the beginning of the full-scale war,” a senior Ukrainian official said Friday.

In a major blow for Russia, at least one explosion has severely damaged the Kerch bridge connecting the annexed Crimean peninsula with the Russian Federation.

The explosion early Saturday caused parts of Europe’s longest bridge to collapse, according to images and video from the scene.

The exact cause of the explosion is unclear. Russian officials said a fuel truck exploded, but two spans of the road crossing in the direction of Crimea appear to have collapsed. A subsequent fire engulfed a train of fuel trucks on a separate part of the bridge.

Images of the Kerch bridge posted on social media appear to show a portion of the roadway of the vehicle and rail bridge had fallen into the waters below it. Flames could be seen burning from rail cars above.

Three dead: Russia’s Investigative Committee says that preliminary information indicates three people were killed in the explosion.

Why is the bridge important? The bridge spans the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, on which sit key Ukrainian ports, including Mariupol. For Russia, the bridge symbolizes the physical “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland. The bridge carries much of Crimea’s needs – such as fuel and goods – and has been used regularly to supply weapons and fuel to Russian forces.

The aftermath: Major transport links between mainland Russia and the annexed peninsula of Crimea — including buses and trains — were suspended, following an explosion on Kerch bridge. Weather conditions in the Kerch Strait are hindering Russia’s plans to use ferries to reach Crimea from Krasnodar, according to Russian state media.

What has Ukraine said? Ukrainian officials have started responding to the fire without directly acknowledging that Ukraine was responsible for the explosion. Among the responses, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine posted on Facebook, “Air defense of the Russian Federation, are you sleeping?” alongside a video showing a section of the bridge’s road that had been completely destroyed.

In a brief post on its official Twitter account, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reacted to the explosion, saying: “The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down. What’s next in line, Russkies?”

What is Russia’s response? Russian President Vladimir Putin immediately ordered a “government commission” to examine the Kerch Bridge “emergency” in Crimea, Russian state media TASS reported, adding that the heads of Russia’s Ministry of Emergency Situations and the Ministry of Transport are now at the scene of the incident.

Russian officials suggest that the explosion was caused by a truck blowing up on the road bridge.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative committee, Svetlana Petrenko, said the committee “has opened a criminal case about the incident at the Crimean Bridge. According to preliminary information, this morning a truck was blown up on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula [the westbound lanes of the bridge], which led to the ignition of seven fuel tanks of a train travelling toward the Crimean Peninsula.”

“As a result, two car lanes of the bridge partially collapsed.”

The Committee also expanded on its earlier statement that a truck on the bridge had blown up.

According to Russia’s Investigative Committee, the owner of the truck is resident of the Krasnodar Krai, and investigative actions have been launched at his place of residence. The route of movement of the vehicle and the relevant documentation are being studied, the committee added.

CNN is unable to verify the Russian explanation for the explosion.

Fire has damaged three fuel tanks in Ilovaisk in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region, according to a statement by the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations, following reports by Ukrainian officials that a cargo train was hit by a “powerful explosion.”

The Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations posted photos and video on its Telegram account showing firefighters dousing the fire at the Ilovaisk railway station on Saturday, and said the fire was a result of shelling by “Ukrainian militants.”

What happened? A cargo train in Ilovaisk in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region was hit by a “powerful explosion” Saturday morning local time, according to the adviser to the Mariupol Mayor Petro Andrushenko.

“Not only Crimea. Not only fuel tanks. There is also a cargo train in Ilovaisk. Locals report a rather powerful explosion and subsequent detonation at night. The occupiers now have big problems with supplies from both sides,” Andrushenko said, referring to the explosion involving a tanker on the Kerch bridge that links Russia’s Krasnodar region with the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Pro-Russian authorities in the self-declared Donetsk People’s Republic confirmed the incident, releasing video Saturday showing the fire’s aftermath at a local railway station. It is unclear yet if there were casualties in the blast.

At least three people were killed in the explosion on the Kerch bridge early Saturday, according to Russia’s Investigative Committee, citing preliminary information.

In a statement on its Telegram channel, the Committee said: “According to preliminary information, three people died as a result of the incident. These are, presumably, the passengers of a car that was next to the blown-up truck.

“Currently, the bodies of two victims have already been taken from the water – a man and a woman, their identities are being established.”

The Committee also expanded on its earlier statement that a truck on the bridge had blown up.

“The investigators of the Russian Investigative Committee also established the data of the truck and its owner. This is a resident of the Krasnodar Krai, investigative actions have been launched at his place of residence. The route of movement of the vehicle and the relevant documentation are being studied.”

Russian officials suggest that the explosion on the Kerch road and rail crossing between Russia and annexed Crimea was caused by a truck blowing up on the road bridge.

The spokeswoman for the Russian Investigative committee, Svetlana Petrenko, said the committee “has opened a criminal case about the incident at the Crimean Bridge. According to preliminary information, this morning a truck was blown up on the automobile part of the Crimean Bridge from the Taman Peninsula [the westbound lanes of the bridge], which led to the ignition of seven fuel tanks of a train travelling toward the Crimean Peninsula.”

“As a result, two car lanes of the bridge partially collapsed.”

CNN is unable to verify the Russian explanation for the explosion. Ukraine has not acknowledged that its armed forces were responsible for the explosion.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova condemned the favorable response among Ukrainian officials to the explosion, saying: “The reaction of the Kyiv regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure testifies to its terrorist nature.”

After US President Joe Biden warned that the world faces the highest prospect of nuclear war in 60 years, a senior administration official says there has been no shift in US nuclear posture.

“We haven’t seen any indication of activity [from Russia] that would cause us to change our own nuclear deterrent posture,” the senior official said, adding that the US continues to monitor Russian military movements for any change in its nuclear stance.

While this official would not go so far as Biden in saying that the world faces the prospect of nuclear crisis for the first time since the 1960s, the official said that “the stakes are clearly higher right now” as a result of a string of military setbacks Russia is facing in Ukraine.

The official said Biden was speaking “frankly” based on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “irresponsible and reckless” rhetoric, but not based on any new information about Russia’s nuclear posture.

What Biden said Thursday night: During a Democratic fundraiser in New York, Biden delivered a stark warning about the dangers behind Putin’s nuclear threats as Moscow continues to face military setbacks in Ukraine.

“First time since the Cuban missile crisis, we have a direct threat of the use (of a) nuclear weapon if in fact things continue down the path they are going,” Biden warned. He added: “I don’t think there’s any such thing as the ability to easily (use) a tactical nuclear weapon and not end up with Armageddon.”

It was striking for the President to speak so candidly, particularly at a fundraiser, while his aides from the National Security Council to the State Department to the Pentagon have spoken in much more measured terms, saying they take the threats seriously but don’t see movement on them from the Kremlin.

CNN’s Sam Fossum, Kaitlan Collins and Paul LeBlanc contributed reporting to this post.

Weather conditions in the Kerch Strait are hindering Russia’s plans to use ferries to reach Crimea from Krasnodar, according to Russian state media.

“Weather conditions do not allow the launch of a ferry crossing from Crimea on October 8,” TASS said Saturday, citing “authorities.”

Earlier Saturday, major transport links between mainland Russia and the annexed peninsula of Crimea – including buses and trains – were suspended, following an explosion on Kerch bridge.

Prior to the weather warning, authorities had planned to use “at least four or five ferries” to organize communication between Crimea and Krasnodar according to TASS.

A cargo train in Ilovaisk in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region was hit by a “powerful explosion” Saturday morning local time, according to the adviser to the Mariupol Mayor Petro Andrushenko.

“Not only Crimea. Not only fuel tanks. There is also a cargo train in Ilovaisk. Locals report a rather powerful explosion and subsequent detonation at night. The occupiers now have big problems with supplies from both sides,” Andrushenko said, referring to the explosion involving a tanker on the Kerch bridge that links Russia’s Krasnodar region with the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

Pro-Russian authorities in the self-declared republic of Donetsk confirmed the incident, releasing video Saturday showing the fire’s aftermath at a local railway station. It is unclear yet if there were casualties in the blast.

Ukraine’s Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko reiterated warnings that a disaster at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant could be on the horizon after it was once again disconnected from Ukraine’s main grid on Saturday.

“Now only the professionalism of Ukrainian nuclear workers is a fuse against a possible nuclear accident,” Halushchenko wrote in a Facebook post.

Some background: The Zaporizhzhia plant has been subject to intense scrutiny since its occupation shortly after Russia’s invasion in late February. Intense shelling near the facility this summer sparked concerns of a nuclear accident, prompting the International Atomic Energy Agency to send a team there. The plant has been disconnected from Ukraine’s power grid on several occasions in recent months due to shelling, according to Ukrainian authorities.

The plant sits in the Russian-occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region and is the largest in Europe. It has been held by Russian forces for more than seven months but is operated by its Ukrainian staff.

The head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog, Rafael Grossi, was in Kyiv on Thursday to discuss his calls to establish a nuclear safety zone around the plant “as soon as possible,” the IAEA said in a statement. Grossi will also visit Russia in the coming days.

Grossi said at a news conference that it’s still unclear what the “practical consequences” were of Russia’s decision to seize the plant, but he would be discussing those matters in high-level meetings in Moscow. He also said that the IAEA considers the facility Ukrainian.

Power line damaged: The last power line connecting the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant to Ukraine’s power grid was damaged and disconnected due to shelling from Russian forces, Ukraine’s nuclear operator Energoatom reported earlier Saturday.

The powerplant is now relying on diesel generators, which have capacity to provide the plant with electricity for 10 days, according to Energoatom.

“The civilized world has already given a clear assessment of Russia’s actions, but the nuclear terrorist continues its blackmail. And they may only be stopped by tough sanctions, primarily against the nuclear industry,” Halushchenko said.

CNN cannot independently verify Halushchenko’s claims.

Major transport links between mainland Russia and the annexed peninsula of Crimea have been suspended, following an explosion on Kerch bridge on Saturday morning.

State-owned rail company Russian Railways announced the suspension of all train ticket sales from Russia to Crimea, according to Russian state news agency TASS.

All bus services from Crimea to mainland Russia were canceled on Saturday, TASS said.

As authorities get to grips with the incident, at least four or five ferries will be used to organize communication between Crimea and the Russian mainland territory, Krasnodar Territory, TASS reported citing the maritime services of the Kuban.

In a brief posting on its official Twitter account, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reacted to the explosion on the Kerch bridge, saying: “The guided missile cruiser Moskva and the Kerch Bridge – two notorious symbols of Russian power in Ukrainian Crimea – have gone down. What’s next in line, Russkies?”

The Moskva, a guided-missile cruiser and the flagship of Russia’s Black Sea fleet sunk on April 14, though the cause remains disputed.

Ukraine says it hit the Moskva with anti-ship cruise missiles, which sparked a fire that detonated stored ammunition. The Moskva was armed with a range of anti-ship and anti-aircraft missiles as well as torpedoes, naval guns and missile defense systems, meaning it would have had massive amounts of explosives aboard.

Russia’s Defense Ministry, however, says a fire of unknown origin detonated the ammunition and the resulting explosions left the Moskva with structural damage. It says the warship then sank amid rough seas as it was being towed to a nearby port.

Ukrainian officials have started responding to a fire involving a tanker on Kerch bridge in the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula on Saturday, without directly acknowledging that Ukraine was responsible for the explosion.

Vadym Denysenko, an adviser to the Interior Minister, said that “the Kerch bridge is a key logistical link that connects Russia with Crimea, and then with the Kherson region. As of now, the Russians have officially announced that the Kerch bridge is closed.”

“Logistically, it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to supply everything possible, from food and fuel to the supply of weapons to Crimea and to the Kherson region. This is a big plus for us, Denysenko said on Ukrainian television.
“A ferry crossing may partially solve the problem, but it depends on how many ferries they will launch and of what size. […] To do it all in one day or a few hours - it is almost unrealistic.”

“Are you sleeping?”: Meanwhile, the Navy of the Armed Forces of Ukraine responded to the blast on Facebook, posting, “Air defense of the Russian Federation, are you sleeping?” alongside a video showing a section of the bridge’s road that had been completely destroyed.

David Arakhamia, the head of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky’s party in parliament and a member of Kyiv’s negotiating team with Russia released a Telegram statement about the incident, saying: “Russian illegal construction is starting to collapse and catch fire. The reason is simple: if you build something explosive, sooner or later, it will explode. And this is just the beginning.”

Mykhailo Podoliak, who serves as an adviser to Zelensky echoed the sentiment. “Crimea, the bridge, the beginning. Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled,” Podoliak said.

The official Twitter page of the Ukrainian government responded to images, memes and video of the Krech bridge explosion with a two-word comment:

“Sick burn.”

Authorities in Russian-annexed Crimea have moved to reassure people that there will be no fuel shortages in the peninsula following the explosion on the Kerch bridge Saturday.

The Governor of the city of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhaev said on his Telegram channel: “Gasoline supply in Sevastopol for 40 days, there will be no shortage, so there is no need to stock up on fuel. The situation is the same with products.”

Social media videos – purportedly shot Saturday – show long queues at some fuel stations in Crimea.

At the same time, the Ministry of Industry in Crimes said that the sale of goods would be limited.

“In order to avoid artificial excitement, the sale of groceries in Crimea is limited: in one hand up to 3 kilograms,” it said.

Many of the products imported into Crimea come across the Kerch bridge.

A fuel tank exploded early Saturday on Europe’s longest bridge, which links Russia to the annexed territory of Crimea, according to Russian state media RIA and social media footage.

Images of the Kerch bridge posted on social media appear to show a portion of the roadway of the vehicle and rail bridge had fallen into the waters below it. Flames are seen burning from rail cars above.

The source of the explosion remains unclear.

The tanker was located on the 19-kilometer (11 mile) long bridge – strategically important because it links Russia’s Krasnodar region with the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula.

Why is it important? The bridge spans the Kerch Strait, which connects the Black Sea to the Sea of Azov, on which sit key Ukrainian ports, including Mariupol.

The Kerch bridge is able to handle 40,000 cars a day and to move 14 million passengers and 13 million tons of cargo per year, state news agency RIA Novosti reported when the bridge opened in 2018. Its opening – according to Russia’s official narrative – claimed to mark the physical “reunification” of Crimea with the Russian mainland.

After the bridge opened, the United States condemned its construction as illegal.

What has Russia’s response been to the explosion? Work is “underway to extinguish the fire,” the adviser to the Russian administration head of occupied Crimea, Oleg Kryunchkov, said in a Telegram post, adding that the bridge’s “shipping arches were not damaged.”

An official in Russian-annexed Crimea blamed “Ukrainian vandals” for the explosion on Kerch bridge in a post on Telegram.

CNN cannot independently verify Konstantinov’s claim.

The bodies of more than 500 civilians have been discovered in the territory in northeast Ukraine that has recently been retaken from Russian forces, according to Ukrainian police.

Most of the remains — 447, according to Ukrainian forces — were found at what was described as a mass burial site in the town of Izium, which Ukrainian forces liberated from Russian occupation in early September. Russian troops had been using Izium as a launchpad for attacks southward into the Donetsk region. 

As Ukrainian forces liberated more land in the northeast, new burial sites are being discovered.

“We found the bodies of 534 civilians from the de-occupied territories,” said Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police,

They included 226 women and 19 children, Bolvinov added.

The Ukrainian military has liberated 2,400 square kilometers (more than 926 square miles) of territory in the south “since the beginning of the full-scale war,” a senior Ukrainian official said Friday.

Almost all of that land has been recovered in the past two weeks as Ukraine has stepped up its counteroffensive in Kherson.

Kyrylo Tymoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said the progress in Kherson includes:

Meanwhile, the evacuation of civilians continued amid massive destruction to critical infrastructure in towns like Arkhanhelske, Vysokopillia and Osokorivka, all of which saw weeks of heavy fighting and indirect fire, Tymoshenko said, adding that de-mining was in progress.

Ukrainian forces have been making steady progress in Kherson since beginning an offensive at the end of last month. In his Thursday night evening address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv has retaken more than 500 square kilometers (about 193 square miles) of territory in the southern Kherson region since Oct. 1.