The Russian military operation in Ukraine continues today, Saturday, as Russian army units are extending full control over the Ukrainian regions andHit the positions of the Kiev forceswhile the latter continues to do so Advance and try to regain their landsWestern support.
In the latest developments, the Russian National Counter-Terrorism Committee reported that a truck was blown up at dawn today on the Crimean bridge, setting fire to a series of fuel tanks on a train that was crossing the bridge. Russian media reported that the fire on the Crimean bridge was caused by a car bomb explosion.
Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the formation of a government commission to determine the circumstances of the incident, while the TASS news agency reported that the movement of trains between Russia and Crimea would be suspended until October 31. . For its part, the Russian Emergency Ministry announced that following the explosion, a fire broke out in a train on the Crimean bridge. He later announced the resumption of navigation in the Kerch Strait.
The Counter-Terrorism Committee said in a statement: “At 06:07 this morning, a truck exploded in the car passing section of the Crimean Bridge, setting fire to seven fuel tanks on a train bound for the peninsula. Crimea”. The communiqué added that a partial collapse occurred in two sections of the highway, without damaging the shipping arch at this location of the bridge. The statement indicated that measures were taken at the scene to determine the circumstances of the explosion and remove its effects.
Russian media reported a crisis at gas stations in Crimea and car queues after the bridge exploded, while the damage caused by the explosion to the Crimean bridge was estimated at 500 million rubles. The Crimean authorities said that the stock of basic necessities was sufficient for at least two months and that reports that the movement of goods had been restricted after the explosion of the bridge was incorrect.
And a fire broke out on the automobile bridge and on the wide railway connecting the Ukrainian Crimean peninsula annexed by Moscow to Russian territory, which led to the suspension of traffic on it, according to Russian authorities.
“According to preliminary information, a fire broke out in a fuel tank on one of the sections of the bridge located in the Crimea, and the bridge did not cause any shipping damage,” the RIA news agency said, quoting a local official.
Russian Crimean authorities reported that an oil tanker caught fire in part of the Crimean bridge at dawn today. “According to preliminary information, an oil tanker caught fire at one of the sites (of the bridge). The navigation arches were not damaged,” Oleg Kruchkov, adviser to the president of Crimea, said in a statement.
The Crimean Railways reported that the locomotive and a number of wagons of the freight train, in which one of the fuel tanks caught fire, were towed from the Crimean bridge to the city of Kerch. For its part, the Russian Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport said that navigation in the Kerch Strait was not suspended due to the fire in the bridge.
The Crimean Bridge is the longest in Russia, with a length of 19 km. The vehicular traffic segment was started in May 2018. Rail movement across the bridge was started in December 2019.
Before that, the Separatist Republic of Donetsk had announced that Ukrainian forces had bombed the republic’s city of Ilovysk with US HIMARS missiles.
The Donetsk representation at the Joint Monitoring and Coordination Center indicated that at midnight Ukrainian forces fired 6 HIMARS missiles against the city of Ilovysk and the city of Umanskoye.
He added that Kiev forces also fired 5 155 mm rounds in two districts, Kirovsky and Petrovsky in the city of Donetsk.
This enters Russian forces announce gains in eastern Ukraine Friday after a series of bitter setbacks on several fronts, but Kiev appears to keep the initiative and has called on Russian soldiers to choose to surrender.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday Kiev’s forces have recaptured some 2,500 square kilometers of land occupied by Russia since the beginning of its counterattack at the end of September.
“This week alone, our soldiers cleared 776 square kilometers of land in the east of our country and 29 cities, 6 of them in the Lugansk region,” Zelensky said in his daily social media post.
“In total, 2,434 square kilometers of our land and 96 cities have been liberated since the start of this offensive operation,” he added.
In a pointer to The confidence that the Ukrainians feel after the success of their counterattackDefense Minister Oleksich Reznikov has promised to “guarantee life, security and justice” to Russian soldiers who choose to surrender.
For its part, Moscow has announced that it has made its first gains – three villages in eastern Ukraine – after losing vast tracts of land on several fronts in recent weeks.
Pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside Moscow forces claimed that the villages of Otradivka, Visela Dolina and Zaitsevi were now under Russian control.
The Russian Defense Ministry had announced the control of Zaitsev the day before in its daily report. These three villages are located south of the Ukrainian-controlled city of Bakhmut. The Russian army has been trying to control the area for months, but without success.
Ukrainian forces also talked about earning gains on Friday, represented by control of the village of Grekyvka in the Lugansk region (east), according to Governor Sergei Gaidai.
