Strikes on Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia kill 17, says Official

A Russian attack on Zaporizhzhia overnight struck apartment buildings and killed at least 17 people a top official in the Ukrainian city said on SundayCity council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev said the city was struck by rockets overnight and that at least five private houses were destroyed and around 40 were damaged The Ukrainian military also confirmed the attack saying that there were dozens of casualtiesThe strike came after an explosion Saturday caused the partial collapse of a bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with Russia damaging an important supply artery for the Kremlins faltering war effort in southern Ukraine and hitting a towering symbol of Russian power in the regionZaporizhzhia has been repeatedly hit in recent weeks and is in the Ukrainian controlledpart of a region that Russian President Vladimir Putin annexed in violation of international law last week A part of the region currently in Russian control is home to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Europes largestIt has repeatedly been imperiled by fighting and lost its last remaining external power source as a result of renewed shelling the UN nuclear watchdog said Saturday It is now relying on emergency diesel generatorsNo one has claimed responsibility for the Crimea bridge attack but it was a significant blow to Russia and could lead to an escalation of the conflict Some Russian lawmakers are calling for Putin to declare a counterterrorism operation rather than the term special military operation that has downplayed the scope of fighting to ordinary RussiansAlso Read Explosion destroys key bridge in RussiaPutin signed a decree late Saturday tightening security for the bridge and for energy infrastructure between Crimea and Russia and put Russias federal security service the FSB in charge of the effortHours after the explosion Russias Defense Ministry announced that the air force chief Gen Sergei Surovikin would now command all Russian troops in Ukraine Surovikin who this summer was placed in charge of troops in southern Ukraine had led Russian forces in Syria and was accused of overseeing a bombardment that destroyed much of AleppoThe 19kilometer 12mile Kerch Bridge on a strait between the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov is a symbol of Moscows claims on Crimea and an essential link to the peninsula which Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014 The USD 36 billion bridge the longest in Europe is vital to sustaining Russias military operations in southern Ukraine Putin himself presided over the bridges opening in 2018Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a video address indirectly acknowledged the bridge attack but did not address its causeToday was not a bad day and mostly sunny on our states territory he said Unfortunately it was cloudy in Crimea Although it was also warmZelenskyy said Ukraine wants a future without occupiers Throughout our territory in particular in CrimeaZelenskyy also said Ukrainian forces 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 Donetsk region where Russian forces have claimed recent gainsTrain and automobile traffic over the bridge was temporarily suspended Automobile traffic resumed Saturday afternoon on one of the two links that remained intact with the flow alternating in each direction said Crimeas Russiabacked leader Sergey AksyonovRail traffic was resuming slowly Two passenger trains left the Crimean cities of Sevastopol and Simferopol and headed toward the bridge Saturday evening Passenger ferry links between Crimea and the Russian mainland were being relaunched SundayWhile Russia seized areas north of Crimea early in its invasion of Ukraine and built a land corridor to it along the Sea of Azov Ukraine is pressing a counteroffensive to reclaim that territory That Russianheld territory along the sea includes the Zaporizhzhia regionThe Crimean Peninsula is a popular destination for Russian tourists and home to a Russian naval base A Russian tourist association estimated that 50000 tourists were in Crimea on SaturdayThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever