Russia punishes Zaporizhia a day after the explosion on the Crimean bridge: at least 20 dead

by time news

The Russian Armed Forces launched twelve missiles on the city in a new attack on civilian infrastructure.

Russia attacked Zaporizhia again and it did so a day after the explosion that caused damage to the Crimean bridge, in what represents a new setback for Moscow’s fragile war logistics, which transported through this infrastructure heavy military equipment and supplies to the troops in the southern Ukraine.

The Russian Armed Forces launched twelve missiles on Zaporizhiain a new attack on civilian infrastructure that caused at least 20 muertos and dozens of injured, including children, according to data from the National Police and the governor of the southern region, Oleksandr Starukh.

“Zaporijia again. Ruthless blows against peaceful people again. In residential buildings, right in the middle of the night,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

“Absolute evil. Savages and terrorists. From the one who gave this order to all those who fulfilled it. They will take responsibility for sure. Before the law and before the people,” he stressed.



Photos of Zaporizhia posted by Zelensky on Facebook

His Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and the Defense Ministry urgently asked the West for more modern air and missile defense systems.

Damage assessment

This is the third missile attack in ten days against Zaporizhia, after the bombardment last Thursday in which 20 Ukrainians died and the missiles fired on September 30 against a humanitarian convoy that claimed 32 lives.

Meanwhile, 500 kilometers south of Zaporizhia, Russian divers began to assess the damage to the Crimean bridgewhich was supposed to be one of the best-protected Russian infrastructure.

Putin, who was informed at all times about the events in the annexed peninsula and for whom the bridge over the Kerch Strait is a personal project, has called a meeting of the Security Council for Monday.

A satellite image of the destroyed bridge in Crimea.  AFP photo


A satellite image of the destroyed bridge in Crimea. AFP photo

On Saturday, the president ordered the Federal Security Service to reinforce the protection of the infrastructure and created a government commission to clarify the circumstances of the explosion of a truck in the automobile part of the structure.

The detonation in turn caused a large fire in a tanker train on the railway part of the bridge, according to the official version.

Not even the Kremlin neither the Investigative Committee nor the National Anti-Terrorist Agency have yet accused Ukraine of the “incident”in which at least three people died.

The Crimean authorities and some Russian legislators have indeed targeted kyiv and its Security Service, as have Ukrainian media such as Ukrainska Pravda or the Ukrinform agency.

A strong explosion on the Crimean bridge, which links the occupied peninsula with Russia.  Photo EFE


A strong explosion on the Crimean bridge, which links the occupied peninsula with Russia. Photo EFE

Ukraine, which has never hidden its desire to attack the bridge, but has admitted that it would be difficult, has celebrated the explosion with sarcasmbut has not admitted authorship.

Zelenski, ironic at night about the explosion with a message of meteorological content: today was “cloudy in Crimea”, but also “hot”.

“This is a future without occupiers. In all our territory, in particular in Crimea,” he stressed.

Impact on military logistics

What is already clear is that the transit capacity of the bridge over the Kerch Strait, the only one linking the annexed Ukrainian peninsula with Russia, has been diminishedas admitted by the Governor of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov.

“Until further notice traffic on the automobile part of the Crimean bridge Only light vehicles will be allowed. The railway line will function normally,” he wrote.

The crossing of buses and heavy vehicles will be carried out by the Lavrenti ferry, which has had to be specially shipped from the occupied Ukrainian port of Mariupol.

Despite alternative transport for heavy material, transit is slowed down by sea.

The Russian Defense Ministry assured on Saturday that supplies to troops in the south, especially in the Zaporizhia triangle, Krivoy Rog and Mykolaiv, was guaranteed through the “land corridor and partially by maritime transport”.

Moscow refers to the connection between Russia and annexed territories in the east and particularly in the south, such as the landlocked tongue off the Sea of ​​Azov, and Khershon, where Kiev’s troops have liberated more than 1,170 square kilometers in their counteroffensive , according to the Southern Command.

This logistics route is however much more exposed by the fighting.

Western analysts believe that while the damage to the Crimean bridge will not affect the course of the war, it will have an at least temporary impact on Russian logistics.

British intelligence recalled that the railway crossing on the Crimean bridge “has played an important role in moving heavy military vehicles to the southern front during the “Russian invasion,” so “any major disruption will most likely have a significant impact on Russia’s already strained ability to sustain its forces” in this Ukrainian area.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), in turn, stated that the explosion “will not permanently disrupt critical land lines of communication with Crimea, but its consequences are likely to increase friction in Russian logistics for some time.

Source: EFE, AFP and AP

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