Crimea

The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has said that the Ukrainian military was responsible for a recent deadly explosion on the Crimean Bridge

Early on Saturday, local time, a massive blast shook the Crimean Bridge (also known as the Kerch Bridge)

Vladimir Putin's bizarre ceremonies formalising Russia's annexation of some 15% of Ukraine once again revealed the yawning chasm between Kremlin triumphalism and reality

Russian news reports say President Vladimir Putin is calling the attack on the Kerch Bridge to Crimea a terrorist act carried out by Ukrainian special services. "There's no doubt it was a terrorist act directed at the destruction of critically important civilian infrastructure, Putin said in a video of a meeting Sunday with the chairman of Russia's Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin. Bastrykin said he had opened a criminal case into an act of terrorism.

An explosion that severely damaged parts of the road and rail bridge between annexed Crimea and the Russian mainland seems designed to play into Putin's current talent for making bad decisions

Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree late Saturday tightening security for the Kerch Bridge and for energy infrastructure between Crimea and Russia. Russia's federal security service, the FSB, was put in charge of the effort, according to a Kremlin statement. The move by Putin came after an explosion Saturday caused the partial collapse of the bridge that link the Crimean Peninsula with Russia, damaging an important supply artery for the Kremlin's faltering war effort. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, in a video address, indirectly acknowledged the attack on the bridge by talking about the weather in Crimea but did not address its cause. Today was a good and mostly sunny day on the territory of our state, he said. Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea." He said Ukraine wants a future without occupiers. Throughout our territory, in particular in Crimea.

An explosion caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia on Saturday, damaging a key supply artery for the Kremlin's faltering war effort in southern Ukraine. Three people were killed in the blast, Russian authorities said. The speaker of Crimea's Kremlin-backed regional parliament immediately accused Ukraine, though Moscow didn't apportion blame. Ukrainian officials have repeatedly threatened to strike the bridge and some lauded the attack, but Kyiv stopped short of claiming responsibility. The bombing came a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin turned 70, dealing him a humiliating blow that could lead him to up the ante in his war on Ukraine. Russia's National Anti-Terrorism Committee said that a truck bomb caused seven railway cars carrying fuel to catch fire, resulting in a partial collapse of two sections of the bridge. A man and a woman who were riding in a vehicle across the bridge were killed by the explosion and their bodies wer

An explosion on Saturday that rocked the crucial Kerch bridge from Russia to Crimea, a hated symbol of the Kremlin's occupation of the southern Ukrainian peninsula, is just "the beginning"

According to Zelensky, "the degradation of Russia began with the seizure of Crimea, with the terror experienced by the Crimean Tatar people" and the repression of the Muslim community

Russian authorities on Saturday reported shooting down Ukrainian drones in Crimea, while Ukrainian officials said Russian forces pressed ahead with efforts to seize one of the few cities in eastern Ukraine not already under their control and kept up their strikes on communities in the north and south. In Crimea, which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, Russian authorities said local air defenses shot down a drone above the headquarters of the Russian Black Sea Fleet. It was the second drone incident at the headquarters in three weeks and followed explosions at a Russian airfield and ammunition depot on the peninsula this month. An aide to Crimea's governor, Oleg Kryuchkov, also said Saturday that attacks by small drones triggered air-defense systems in western Crimea. He did not elaborate. Russia considers Crimea to be Russian territory now, especially after building a huge bridge to the peninsula from the Russian mainland, but Ukrainian officials have never accepted its annexation

Ammunition store explodes in latest Crimea blasts; Ukraine hints at role, suggesting greater strike capacity; Russia reports more shelling near nuclear plant; food aid leaves Ukrainian port for Africa

Kyiv tauntingly hinted at involvement which, if true, could show new capability to strike deeper into Russian territory, potentially changing the dynamic of the six-month conflict

Russia has denied aircraft were damaged and said explosions seen at the base on Tuesday were accidental

He stressed that as long as Russia continued to reign over Crimean, many countries will be deprived of "lasting peace"

For nearly a decade, sanctions have been little more than names on a list for wealthy Russians and now governments are working to give them bite

Russian President Vladimir Putin called on Tuesday for international recognition of Crimea as part of Russia, an end to Ukraine's NATO membership bid and a halt to weapons shipments there. Putin claimed that Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula should be internationally recognised as a legitimate reflection of the local population's choice, likening it to a vote for Kosovo independence. The annexation has been widely condemned by Western powers as a breach of international law. To end the current crisis, he also called for the renunciation of Ukraine's NATO bid, saying it should assume a neutral status, and said that the West should stop sending weapons there.

Russia has ties to world energy and financial markets and is home to major foreign partnerships and investments, so any measures will have repercussions outside the country

The buildup of Russian troops near Ukraine has left US officials perplexed, muddying the Biden administration's response. Some Republican lawmakers have been pressing the US to step up military support for Ukraine. But that risks turning what may be mere muscle-flexing by Russian President Vladimir Putin into a full-blown confrontation that only adds to the peril for Ukraine and could trigger an energy crisis in Europe. But a weak US response carries its own risks. It could embolden Putin to take more aggressive steps against Ukraine as fears grow he could try to seize more of its territory. And it could cause more political damage for President Joe Biden at a time his popularity is dropping. Knowing how to strike the right balance would be easier if the US had a better understanding of what Putin was trying to accomplish. But top officials admit they don't know. We're not sure exactly what Mr. Putin is up to, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Wednesday. A week earlier, Secretar

Ukraine must modify its team shirt for the European Championship after UEFA on Thursday upheld part of a Russian complaint about slogans and a map that included Crimea. The yellow-and-blue shirt design unveiled on Sunday angered Russian officials by including an outline of Ukraine's land territory with the Crimea region which Russia annexed in 2014. The fresh UEFA ruling allows the map to stay on the shirt, in line with international law which recognizes the Russian annexation as illegal. However, one of the two slogans woven into the inside of the shirt collar Glory to the heroes must be removed. Glory to Ukraine can remain visible on the back of the shirt's neck. Russian lawmakers linked the two slogans together as being used by Ukrainian nationalists, some of whom fought with the Nazis against the Soviet Union in World War II. UEFA said it approved Glory to the heroes last December, separate from the other slogan which was allowed two years earlier. Following further analysi

A Russian press release on Tuesday formally objected to the overhaul in Ukraine of military equipment built and sold by Russia