Russia-Ukraine War Latest Updates: President Vladimir Putin on Sunday accused Ukraine of orchestrating the powerful blast that damaged a key bridge linking Russia and Crimea the day before, describing the explosion as an “act of terrorism”. “There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure,” Putin said in a video on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
His statement came after a Russian missile attack early on Sunday struck an apartment block and other residential buildings in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 13 people and wounding 89 others, Ukrainian officials said. The pre-dawn strikes were the second such attack against the city in three days.
Here are the top developments in the Russia-Ukraine conflict:
• An external power line to Ukraine’s Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant — the biggest in Europe — was repaired on Sunday after shelling disconnected the facility from the grid and forced it to resort to emergency diesel generators, the U.N. nuclear watchdog said. The plant has been held by Russian forces for months, but operated by Ukrainian employees. All six reactors at the site are shut down but they still require electricity for cooling and other safety functions.
• A Russian missile attack early on Sunday struck an apartment block and other residential buildings in Ukraine’s southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia, killing at least 13 people and injuring 87 others, including 10 children, Ukrainian officials said.
• As on Sunday, Ukrainian troops were involved in very tough fighting near the strategically important eastern town of Bakhmut, which Russia is trying to take, Zelenskiy said, as Kyiv’s counteroffensive is expected to meet more determined resistance.
• Ukraine has recaptured over 1,170 square kilometres (450 square miles) of land in its southern Kherson region since launching the start of its counter-assault against Russia in late August, a military spokesperson said on Sunday. Ukraine achieved lightning success with its offensive in the north-east, but its drive in the south to wipe out a Russian foothold on the west bank of the vast Dnipro river has been a longer, more laboured affair.
• The White House on Sunday declined comment on an explosion that damaged Russia’s road-and-rail bridge to Crimea but said it will continue to supply Ukraine with arms and that Russian President Vladimir Putin had started the war and could end it if he chose.
• The damage to the bridge, which had been an imposing symbol of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, came amid battlefield defeats for Russia, and could further cloud Kremlin reassurances that the conflict is going to plan.
• The blast on the Crimean bridge over the Kerch Strait, a key supply route for Moscow’s forces in southern Ukraine, had prompted gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials on Saturday but no claim of responsibility.
• Russia’s Defence Ministry on Saturday named Air Force General Sergei Surovikin as the overall commander of Russian forces fighting in Ukraine, Moscow’s third senior military appointment in the space of a week.
Ukraine’s economy shrank an estimated 30% in the first three quarters of 2022 from the same period in 2021, with bad harvest weather compounding the impact of the war, the economy ministry said, although exports jumped 23% on month in September after an internationally brokered deal allowed Black Sea grain shipments.
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