Russia launched several missile strikes on the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, killing at least thirteen others and wounding more than 60, in retaliation for a truck bomb that breached a Crimean bridge, the government said Sunday.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused the Ukraine special of being guilty of the bridge explosion and ordered the chairman of his commission of inquiry, Alexander Bastrykin, to open an investigation into thieves. Bastrykin said some suspects have already been identified.
“There is no doubt that this is a terrorist attack aimed at destroying Russia’s critical civilian infrastructure,” Putin said, referring to the only road link between Russia and Crimea. Ukrainian officials alluded to involvement in the blast but claimed responsibility.
Missile movements caused parts of a high-rise apartment building to collapse and blow off the windows of adjacent buildings. The attacks came hours after an explosion on Saturday caused the partial collapse of the Kerch Bridge, an artery of the Kremlin’s origin war effort.
Initially, the city council said 17 had died, but later regional police checked the number to 13. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the attack on civilians “absolute evil” and Russians “savages and terrorists. “
The Russian government had warned of retaliation following the attack on the 12-mile Kerch Bridge valued at $3. 6 billion, symbolic of Moscow’s capture of Crimea 8 years ago. The bridge reopened Sunday to rail and car traffic, with long lines of cars waiting to cross.
Other developments:
Former US Ambassador to the United Nations Bill Richardson, who is unofficially negotiating the release of Americans Brittney Griner and Paul Whelan from Russian captivity, told CNN on Sunday that a deal for their freedom is possible until the end of the year.
►Putin signed a decree strengthening the security of the Crimean Bridge and the electrical infrastructure between Crimea and Russia. He entrusted the effort to Russia’s federal security service, the FSB.
►In the retaken town of Lyman, where fleeing Russians left a trail of devastation, the first 20 bodies of a mass burial were exhumed. About two hundred civilians are believed to be buried in one place. The bodies of ukrainian infantrymen were buried in a mass grave in some otherArray, police said.
►The Russian Defense Ministry announced that Air Force General Sergei Surovikin will now command all Russian troops in Ukraine. Aleppo.
GRAPHICS: Mapping and the Russian invasion of Ukraine
NUCLEAR ARMAGEDON? Biden cites threat since 1962
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba, in response to the Russian missile barrage, said Ukraine “urgently desires more modern air and missile defense systems” for its cities.
“Russia continues to terrorize civilians with missiles in Zaporizhzhia,” Kuleba said. “I urge partners to speed up deliveries. “
The power of the West’s guns played a huge role in reversing the war, with Ukrainian forces pushing back Russian troops, retaking thousands of square kilometers of land.
Disapproval of the war effort is unfolding in Russia, with vocal critics adding Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov and personal army corporate owner Yevgeny Prigozhin, as well as state-approved TV presenters, pop stars and “a vocal network of ultranationalist army bloggers. “the British Ministry of Defence said in its most recent assessment.
Criticism continues to be directed at Russia’s military command rather than political leaders, the ministry said. But the assessment says the tendency to publicly voice dissent opposed to the Russian status quo is at least partially tolerated and “will likely be difficult to reverse. “
The Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was repaired and reconnected to the grid on Sunday, according to the International Atomic Energy Agency. However, its executive leader, Rafael Grossi, described the progression as “a temporary relief in a situation that is still unsustainable. “
The IAEA said the plant’s link to a 750-kilovolt line was cut during Saturday’s bombing. The facility’s six reactors, the largest of their kind in Europe, are closed but still need electrical power for cooling and other protective functions, which were provided through emergency diesel generators. The plant has been owned by Russian forces for months and has still been operated by Ukrainian employees.
“A coverage area is needed now,” Grossi tweeted. I will do it and see it. “
Residents of Enerhodar, where the plant is located, have been living on electricity or fuel for three days, Mayor Dmytro Orlov said Sunday. He said some citizens used campfires next to their homes to cook and boil water.
Orlov blamed Russia’s constant shelling for preventing service personnel from restoring the public by Sunday, and warned citizens to remain cautious about collecting firewood from spaces likely to be littered with landmines. About a portion of the 50,000 citizens fled when Russian troops took the city.
President Joe Biden’s warning last week that the threat of nuclear “Armageddon” is at its highest point since 1962 is “troubling” and not productive in ending the war in Ukraine, retired Adm. Mike Mullen said Sunday. Mullen, former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and senior adviser to President George W. ‘s military. Bush and President Barack Obama told ABC’s “This Week” that Biden’s caution “is pretty much the most sensible on the language scale. “
“I think we want to step back a little bit and do everything we can to get to the negotiating table to resolve this issue,” Mullen said. “It has to end and there are negotiations related to that. “
Nebraska Republican Rep. Don Bacon, a member of the House Armed Services Committee, said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that Putin is a “cornered animal . . . unpredictable, unstable. ” But he also said Biden is “more careful” with his rhetoric.
Ukraine’s armed forces have liberated more than 50 towns and nearly 800 square kilometers in the occupied Kherson region and are closing in on the Russian-controlled city, Deputy Interior Minister Yevhen Enin said Sunday. The region is one of 4 that Russia has claimed annex after sham referendums held at gunpoint that the Kremlin says have proved overwhelming to join Russia.
“Little by little, step by step, the Kherson region, our lands are freed from the invaders,” Enin said. Ukrainian officials say they are also advancing in the other 3 regions seized through Russia, adding the Luhansk and Donetsk regions that make up commercial Donbass. The Donbass region has been the main target of Russian troops since their withdrawal from the Kyiv region at the beginning of the war.
Slovak Defense Minister Jaro Nad said Sunday that Bratislava delivered two Zuzana 2 self-propelled howitzers for Ukraine’s efforts to repel the Russian invasion. defense system, army helicopters and thousands of rockets.
Nad said the most recent gifts went to Putin, who turned 70 on Friday.
“To commemorate his 70th birthday, we gave another gift to the aggressor Putin. There are now two more shells #Zuzana2 (and many more to come),” Ned tweeted.
Contribute: The Associated Press