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Russian strikes kill 17 in Ukraine following bridge attack


A view shows a residential building heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 9, 2022.

Stringer | Reuters

A smashing of apartment buildings and other targets in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia left at least 17 people dead and dozens injured, officials said Sunday.

Explosions in the city, still under Ukrainian control but located in an area Moscow claims as its own, blew out windows in adjoining buildings and damaged at least one apartment building partially collapsed buildings.

Multiple air strikes followed an explosion on Saturday that caused a partial collapse of a bridge connecting the Crimean Peninsula with Russia. The Kerch Bridge attack damaged a vital supply route for the Kremlin’s faltering war effort in southern Ukraine, a lifeline that is also a towering symbol of Russian power in the region.

City council secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said the rockets that hit Zaporizhzhia overnight damaged at least 20 private houses and 50 apartment buildings. At least 40 people have been hospitalized, Kurtev said on Telegram.

The Ukrainian military confirmed the attack, saying there were dozens of casualties.

Residents gathered behind police tape next to a building where several floors collapsed after the explosion, leaving a smoldering pit at least 40 feet wide where apartments once stood.

Tetyana Lazun’ko, 73, and her husband, Oleksii, took shelter in the hallway of their top-floor apartment after hearing sirens warning of an attack. They were delivered from the worst explosion that made them fear and distrust.

“There was an explosion. Everything was shaking,” Lazun’ko said. “Things are flying and I’m screaming.”

Suffering local residents sit at a residential area heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine October 9, 2022.

Stringer | Reuters

Shards of glass, entire window and door frames and other debris covered the exterior floors of the apartment where they lived since 1974. Lazun’ko wept bitterly, wondering why their house was there. in an area with no military infrastructure in sight was targeted.

“Why did they bomb us? Why?” she speaks.

Oleksii, who sat quietly, leaning on a wooden stick, had suffered three strokes, Lazun’ko said. Breaking his silence, he said slowly, “This is international terrorism. You cannot be saved from it.”

In recent weeks, Russia has repeatedly attacked Zaporizhzhia, the capital of the region of the same name that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed last week in violation of international law. At least 19 people died in Russian missile attacks on apartment buildings in the city on Thursday.

“Again, Zaporizhzhia. Once again, merciless attacks on civilians, targeting residential buildings, in the middle of the night,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wrote in a Telegram post.

“Absolute evil. Absolute evil. … From the one who gave this order, to all who carry out this order: they will answer. They must answer. Before the law and humanity people,” he added

While Russia targeted Zaporizhzhia before Saturday’s explosion on the Crimean Bridge, the attack was a major blow to Russia, which annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. No one has yet claimed it. responsible for damage to the bridge.

Putin signed a decree late Saturday to tighten the security of the bridge and energy infrastructure between Crimea and Russia, and put Russia’s federal security agency, the FSB, in charge of the effort. this.

Some Russian lawmakers have called on Putin to declare a “counter-terrorist operation”, rather than the term “special military operation”, which has lowered the scope of combat for ordinary Russians.

Hours after the explosion, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the commander of the air forces, General Sergei Surovikin, would take command of the entire Russian army in Ukraine. Surovikin, who was appointed this summer to the army in southern Ukraine, has commanded Russian forces in Syria and is accused of overseeing a bombardment that destroyed much of Aleppo.

The 19 km (12 mi) long Kerch Bridge, which straddles the strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, is a symbol of Moscow’s claim to Crimea and an essential link to the peninsula that Russia annexed from Ukraine. in 2014.

The $3.6 billion bridge, the longest in Europe, is an important bridge to sustain Russian military operations in southern Ukraine. It was Putin who presided over the opening of the bridge in May 2018.

This video filmed and released on October 8, 2022 shows thick black smoke rising from a fire on the Kerch bridge connecting Crimea with Russia.

– | Afp | beautiful pictures

In a video speech, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy indirectly acknowledged the bridge attack but did not state its cause.

“It’s not a bad day today and it’s mostly sunny in our state,” he said. “Unfortunately, it’s cloudy in Crimea. Although it’s also warm.”

Zelenskyy said Ukraine wants a future “without occupiers. All over our territory, especially in Crimea.”

Zelenskyy also said Ukrainian forces had advanced or held the line in the east and south, but acknowledged “very, very difficult, very tough fighting” around the city of Bakhmut in the eastern region of Donetsk, where Russian forces have gained recent gains.

Trains and cars passing through the bridge were temporarily suspended. The car traffic returned Saturday afternoon on one of the two routes still intact, with flow alternating in each direction, said Sergey Aksyonov, the leader of Russia-backed Crimea.

Russia’s Transport Ministry said on Telegram Sunday that passenger train traffic between Crimea and mainland Russia resumed overnight “as scheduled.”

In a separate Telegram post on Sunday, the ministry said car ferries were also operating between Crimea and the mainland, with the first crossing taking place just before 2am local time (11am). evening GMT).

While Russia seized areas north of Crimea at the outset of its invasion of Ukraine and built a land corridor along the Sea of ​​Azov, Ukraine is pushing for a counter-offensive to regain that territory as well as the four areas Putin illegal merger this month.

Russia has stepped up attacks on the city of Zaporizhzhia since officially taking over the surrounding area on September 29.

The governor of the Zaporizhzhia region reported that the death toll had risen to 32 after a Russian missile attack on a civilian convoy was on its way to leave the city on September 30. In a Telegram post, Oleksandr Starukh that another person died in the hospital. Friday.

Rescuers and volunteers carry a bag containing the body of a civilian found dead in a residential area heavily damaged by a Russian missile attack, amid Russian attacks Ukrainian government, in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine on October 9, 2022.

Stringer | Reuters

The part of the Zaporizhzhia region now under Russian control is home to Europe’s largest nuclear power plant. Fighting has continued with the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, and Ukrainian authorities shut down its last operational reactor last month to prevent a radioactive disaster.

The International Atomic Energy Agency, the UN nuclear watchdog, said on Saturday that the Zaporizhzhia plant had lost its last remaining external power source due to fresh shelling and is now relying on generators emergency diesel power.

The Crimean peninsula is a popular destination for Russian tourists and is home to a Russian naval base. A Russian tourism association estimated that 50,000 visitors arrived in Crimea on Saturday.

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