The strategically important bridge between the Russian mainland and the Russian-annexed Crimean Peninsula is on fire. This is shown by images distributed on Twitter. Part of the bridge has broken off and is in the water.
In the meantime, the bridge should no longer burn, as new recordings show. But these also show how destroyed part of the Crimean Bridge is.
According to Ukrainian media, there was a large explosion on the bridge in the early hours of the morning. According to Crimean Railways, a Russian state-owned company, a fuel tank on a freight train exploded while it was crossing the bridge. The Russian Anti-Terrorism Committee, in turn, said that a truck had exploded on the bridge. So far there have been no reports of injuries or deaths.
Putin himself opened the bridge in a grand ceremony in 2018. For the Kremlin, the bridge symbolizes the areas annexed in 2014. It is also an important supply route and crosses the Kerch Strait, a strait. According to the Russian news agency Tass, shipping in the area was not affected by the incident.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has recognized the Russian Pacific archipelago of the South Kuril Islands as sovereign territory of Japan by decree. Zelenskyy spoke on Friday of recognizing Japan’s territorial integrity and called on the world community to also recognize the area as Japanese. “An important decision was made today. It’s fair, legal. Historically,” he said in a video circulated in Kyiv. The Ukrainian parliament had previously passed a corresponding resolution.
The Russian occupiers must be driven out everywhere and defeated as aggressors, Zelenskyj said. This is the only way wars can be prevented in the future. Zelenskyy was reacting to the annexation of Ukrainian territories by Russia.
The Soviet Union conquered the areas in the north of Japan as the victorious power in World War II. Japan and Russia, the legal successors of the Soviet Union, still have no peace treaty because of the territorial dispute. “Russia has no right to these areas,” Zelenskyy said. Everyone in the world knows that, action must be taken now.
Moscow has declared other opposition figures “foreign agents”, including writer Dmitri Glukhovsky and rapper Oxxxymiron. Their names were released by Russian authorities on Friday. Glukhovsky is a well-known science fiction writer wanted for “discrediting” the Russian army. Like the rapper, whose real name is Miron Fedorov, he has already left the country.
The 37-year-old rapper described the Russian offensive in Ukraine at the end of February as a “disaster and a crime”. The musician, who is particularly popular with young Russians, has organized several concerts in support of Ukrainian refugees abroad.
Feminist politician Alena Popova and journalist Irina Storozheva were also declared “foreign agents”.
The term “foreign agent,” reminiscent of the Soviet-era term “enemy of the people,” is aimed at opposition figures, journalists and human rights activists accused of using foreign funds to organize political activities.
The Chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP), has spoken out in favor of tank training for Ukrainian soldiers in the EU. “The Spaniards would be willing to train the Ukrainian soldiers on the Leopard 2 in Latvia,” said the chairwoman of the Defense Committee of the German Press Agency on Friday during her visit to Ukraine in Kyiv.
But Germany would have to give the green light for this. The current question is how Ukraine will get through the upcoming winter militarily. “Therefore, now would be the best time to train the Ukrainians on the marten or leopard, since that takes a lot of time,” she emphasized.
In her talks with, among others, Defense Minister Oleksiy Resnikov and the head of the Presidential Office, Andriy Yermak, the issue of arms deliveries was emphasized again and again. “The tenor is: we need everything, always, all the time. That’s understandable,” said the 64-year-old. The issue is particularly acute in the south of the country. “You are certain of victory. Nevertheless, the losses there are relatively high.” In the open terrain, Leopard tanks from Germany could make the difference.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is giving Ukraine billions in fresh aid from a new program to cushion food price shocks. The IMF Council approved the disbursement of 1.3 billion dollars (1.33 billion euros) on Friday. The money was intended, among other things, to compensate for the loss of income from grain exports that were lost in the course of the Russian war of aggression, the IMF said. The Ukrainian economy is forecast to shrink by 35 percent this year and the need for financing will remain high. The new IMF support program in connection with the food crisis was launched just a few days ago.
What will be important on Saturday
Ukraine is continuing its offensive in the east and south of the country in order to further push back the Russian troops and liberate more towns. Meanwhile, the Russian Ministry of Defense is relocating more and more reservists, who are called up as part of a partial mobilization, to the invaded country. The conscripts should hold there occupied areas in the Luhansk, Donetsk, Zaporizhia and Kherson regions.
Also read: The Ukraine update on October 7th – Zelenskyj rowed back after statements on “preemptive strikes” against Russia
