the kerch strait at any time. on 23 november, the ukrainian navy boat group, slow armored boats, and a tugboat, started to plan transfer from the port of odessa in the black sea to the port of mariupol in the azov sea. the route and procedure of this passage were the same as in september this year when two ukrainian naval vessels sailed from odessa to mariupol. on 24 november during the naval march, the commander of the ukrainian naval group received a notice from the russian authorities concerning the closure of navigation in the kerch strait area. however, the international center for navigation control located in spain did not confirm this notification. on 25 november, the ukrainian commander requested twice the russian maritime control services the passage through kerch strait. he did not receive any answer. later, the russian maritime control officer directed the ukrainian navy boat group to the so-called area of waiting. it was stated that ukrainian vessels would be soon informed on the kerch strait passage

that requires entry through the narrow kerch strait. the russian federation meanwhile claims that ukraine has provoked the incident and that russia acted in accordance with international law. according to media reports, the ukrainian ships and their personnel are currently being held by the russian authorities. ukraine's national security and defense counsel has since recommended the declaration of martial law. we understand that the decision remains subject to ratification meeting today. mr. president, the waters of the sea of azov were claimed as being historically internal waters of both ukraine and the russian federation. this is where vessels of the two countries have enjoyed freedom of navigation. however, tensions have risen in and around these water since the 2014,tion of crimea in which has been the subject of several assembly resolutions. 2016, proceedings under the united nations convention on the law of the sea were instituted by ukraine against the russian federation with regard to a, and i quote, "dispute concerning coasta

they attempted to do so by the only possible way to go, through the kerch strait. both russia and ukraine used the routinely, but this time russia decided to prevent passage of the ukrainian ships, rams them, and then opened fire on them. this is no way for a law-abiding, civilized nation to act. impeding ukraine's lawful transit through the kerch strait is a violation under international law. it is an arrogant act that the international community must condemn and will never accept. in may, the united states condemned russia's construction and opening of the kerch strait bridge between russia and occupied crimea. the united states condemned russia's harassment of international shipping in the sea of azov, and the kerch strait. continued states will to stand with the people of ukraine against the russian aggression. it is our expectation that our european partners will lead this effort through the normandy four format, which we support. call on russia to respect its international obligations and not obstruct tourist ukraine's in the kerch strait, and to de-escalate

kerch. the port in crimea has announced that 24 sailors on board the ships will remain in detention for at least two months awaiting trial. the russians accuse them of entering illegally russian territory. the prime minister came out on wednesday and said this was a planned provocation by the ukrainian government and the president and the russians say it was in trouble and ahead of them was the election in ukraine. that is why the russians say this move was pulled off. the ukrainians very much denying that. they continue to say it is the russians who provoked the incident and in breach of international law. the u.s. special representative to ukraine came out and said the ships need to be given back by the russians immediately and the u.s. secretary of defense james mattis coming out saying their word cannot be trusted. the russians are not feeling as much blowback from the u.s. president. the spokesman for vladimir putin says despite the recent standoff, the meeting with trump and putin at t

this is his project, the kerch bridge. the entire taking of crimea, the illegal annexation of crimea, that is president putin's project. it is absolute, if you will, a symbolic wedding band between ukraine and russia to president putin. that explosion that strike, right at the heart of the bridge, is in many ways very, very personal for president putin, who today will be meeting with his own security council. that's supposed to take place a couple of hours from now. the agenda is not public, but absolutely at the top of discussions will be what to do about the kerch bridge, what will the kremlin's response be to this attack? and we've already seen these attacks in kyiv this morning. there seems to also be a ramping-up of missile strikes on zaporizhzhia. that's an all-important city, home to europe's large u.s. nuclear power plant, on the front lines. that city, president zelenskyy saying in his nightly address, more than 40 people have been killed in the past week on multiple missile attacks on multiple residential areas i

remain impounded in the port town of kerch. the court in crimea has also announced that 24 ukrainian sailors on board the ships will remain in den tension for at -- remain in detention for at least two months awaiting trial. russians accuse them of illeg illegally entering the russian territory. putin came out on wednesday and called a planned provocation. that's one of the reasons the russians believe this move was pulled off. the ukrainians very much denying that. they continue to say it is the russians who provoked the incident and they are in breach of international law. the spokesperson for russia says they need to detain the ships. the russians are not feeling blow back from the u.s. president. the spokesman for vladimir putin saying he believes that despite the recent standoff that the meeting between presidents trump and putin is still on at the g20 summit. vladimir putin believes that president trump is positively inclined to bettering relations with the united states and russia despite the incident that took place rig

more on the attacks on the strategically important kerch i on the strategically important kerch bridgegrain deal comes after an attack on the strategically important kerch bridge linking russia with occupied—crimea. russian media says the bridge was hit by an unmanned craft on the water's surface. it also says two people in a car were killed. sources in the ukrainian security services have told the bbc they carried out the attack. these are some of the latest pictures from the scene showing the damage. the video appers to have been taken from the railway track which runs alongside the bridge. the rail line hasn't been impacted. investigators are now surveying the damage on the bridge video released by the committee investigating the attack shows debris being picked up. the bridge was temporarily shut last year after it was severely damaged in another attack. well, video is circulating on social media claiming to show the moment of explosion on the bridge. but our teams at bbc verify have established — that video is old and features an unrelated incident. for more now on what our teams

on november 23 naval ships started sailing towards the kerch strait asking to go through the straits of oslo. the kremlin has built up immunity in the sea of oslo. if you felt that stranglehold on economic to be through kerch strait also to position their military for possible additional strikes or to raise the cost of ukraine's defense by threatening additional strikes in the sea of oslo. some people talk about the problem of crimea's water supply that shaky bridge that sandy refer to but let's remember a spare could not build a bridge across the straits through the waters of straits, the currents are very strong which is why the railroad with -- the road bridge is not -- anyway if that ridge is in trouble theme for the canal which in the days when ukraine have full control over crimea supply water from the new river in crimea becomes very important. i personally don't think the kremlin will try to seize that because that would require a military operation. they want to avoid that type of operation because that will trigger serious sanctions and other actions. all these things have

>> reporter: this is a major escalation in the kerch strait. it lies between the russian mainland and crimea. crimea was annexed in 2014. for many months, ukraine has been accusing russia of interfering with the shipping in the international stretch of water. preventing the access of ports in the sea of azov. trying to interfere with the shipping to apply economic pressure to the country. this is the first time this has emerged into outright violence. the ukrainian navy says six of the sailors were injured in the confrontati confrontation. a couple of confrontations took place. the most serious is when russia opened fire on three ukrainian naval vessels and deployed the special forces to take control of them. video has just come out of those ships being held under russian control on the crimean peninsula now. we don't know the fate of the crew. nevertheless, the prospects for this, the possibility of this escalating on enormous. you mentioned the united nations security council has called an emergency session to discuss the situation. there has

russian special forces have seized three ukrainian navy vessels in the kerch strait, off the coast ofensions, russian forces opened fire and ukraine says six of its crew members were injured. the ukrainian president petro poroshenko has called an emergency meeting of his national security council, which says it plans to declare martial law. russia has accused the ukrainian ships of breaching its territorial waters. anders aslund is a senior fellow in the eurasia center at the atlantic council. he joins me from washington. thank you for your time. first of all given there is an agreement to use these waters between both sides, how could like this happen?m use these waters between both sides, how could like this happen? it is straightforward russian aggression. they have right to do this. we had expected this for a long time, first the building over the bridge over this very narrow kerch strait, and $0011 this very narrow kerch strait, and soon after russia had annexed crimea and then more and more inspections of ships going to the big ukrainian ports, hundreds of them. they were hamper

here's the kerch bridge from above.t stretches across the kerch strait, connecting russia with crimea, a territory that russia illegally annexed in 2014. traffic has been partially restored to the road section of the bridge, with the railway line, running parallel to it, remaining fully intact. this is the second time the bridge was struck. russia says it was hit by an unmanned craft on the water's surface and that two of its civilians were killed. sources in the ukrainian security services have confirmed to the bbc that ukraine was responsible. the us says it's too soon to tell if any military advantage was gained from the strike. russia president vladimir putin responded to this earlier. translation: this is | another terrorist attack by the kyiv regime. it was a pointless crime from a military standpoint and a brutal one. russia will, of course, respond. the defence ministry is drafting proposals. on a visit in new york earlier, ukraine's foreign minister questioned the use of the bridge. not every bridge is civilian

there's also this new russian bridge across the kerch strait. cargo ships can no longerfit through. the largest cargo ships can no longer fit through. and those that can, in particular those using ukrainian ports, now find themselves subject to lengthy russian inspections and delays. so this ship has just left marry a poll, it is heading towards the kerch strait and towards the outside world. the problem, in the past few months, has been a journey that they can predictably say it might take a day 01’ predictably say it might take a day orso, predictably say it might take a day or so, well, now, predictably say it might take a day orso, well, now, because predictably say it might take a day or so, well, now, because of the problems at the kerch strait it can ta ke problems at the kerch strait it can take a week, possibly, of waiting go before they get through into the black sea. and for shipping companies time is money. just one extra day can cost up to $15,000. so ships are reluctant to come here. ukraine problem now nearly empty industrial port

the kerch bridge is an important supply route for russian forces fighting in southern ukraine.r russia editor, steve rosenberg. the images are dramatic and they are worrying for moscow. this is the bridge the kremlin built, linking russia to annexed crimea. it was supposed to have been heavily protected. an explosion at dawn sparked a major fire and serious damage. at least three people were killed. russian officials claim a lorry was blown up here and that the flames spread to fuel tanks on a train. parts of road collapsed into the water. russian investigators announced they were opening a criminal case. and the kremlin has set up a government commission to look into the incident. the 12—mile—long bridge is not only strategically important to the kremlin, a crucial supply route, it is also a symbol of the russian annexation of crimea. vladimir putin opened it in 2018. by building it, he was trying to show that as far as he's concerned, russia and crimea are joined forever. in crimea, pro—kremlin officials blamed the blast on ukrainian vandals. kyiv hasn't claimed responsibilit

ukraine is claiming responsibility for an operation on the kerch bridge.s is the only direct link between the crimean peninsula and russia, it is also a critical artery for supplying crimea with civilian goods. russian officials say there is damage to the roadway, railroad tracks that run parallel to the road are still said to be intact. let's get to cnn's senior national security correspondent alex marquardt who is in odesa. this is a very symbolic and strategic target for the ukrainians, alex. >> reporter: it is, john, and when we see brazen attacks like this from the ukrainians we rarely get confirmation or admission that they were behind it, now we are not only having ukraine claiming responsibility but they're trolling the russians at the same time. we heard earlier on telegram from ukraine's security services saying the bridge has gone to sleep again. that is a reference to another attack on the kerch bridge that happened nine months ago. at the time ukraine did not claim responsibility. they are doing that today saying it was a joint effort between

retaliation for the kerch bride? , ., ~ i. retaliation for the kerch bride? , ., ~ ., bridge?you for having me _ bridge? first, thank you for having me and _ bridge? first, thank you for having me and i _ bridge? first, thank you for having me and i do - bridge? first, thank you for having me and i do think. bridge? first, thank you for having me and i do think it| bridge? first, thank you for l having me and i do think it is a response. i'm not sure it will be a one—off but i'm sure it is what prudent measures as a proportionate response to the attack in crimea and i think is your previous interviewee was exactly right, this is as much about here as it is about striking critical infrastructure. i would not be surprised if there were follow—on strikes from this but i do think it is prudent�*s version of a proportionate response to the attack on a bridge in crimea. it’s response to the attack on a bridge in crimea.— bridge in crimea. it's quite interesting. _ bridge in crimea. it's quite interesting. i— bridge in crimea. it's quite interesting. i think - bridge in crimea. it's

breaking news — the russia—installed senior official in crimea says there's been an emergency on the kerchdge linking the russian mainland to crimea. he said police and emergency teams were on the scene. our russia editor steve rosenberg says, russian officials have not called this an attack. but unconfirmed reports on russian telegram channels suggest explosions were heard in the area of the bridge after 3am local time this morning. also unconfirmed: that one section of the road bridge has collapsed and that two people were killed. the russia—installed authorities in crimea are calling on people not to use the bridge and instead use alternative routes to and from crimea through the �*new regions�* — which is how russia refers to the ukrainian territories it occupied last year and claims to have annexed. the kerch bridge was hit last october by a suspected truck bomb which destroyed part of the roadway and also damaged the train line. ukraine eventually claimed responsibility for that attack — which was seen as blow to the authority of vladimir putin who had personally opened the bridge wh

russian investigators say the assault in the city of kerch was carried out by an 18—year—old studente school. lebo diseko has more. tributes in crimea to those who died in the attack

and it happened close to the kerch strait, the kerch bridge, which connects russia to occupied crimearainians. and yesterday we were told that a warship, a russian warship and the port was destroyed, well, badly damaged. it was listing heavily to one side and also had to be towed to shore. that's a major terminal for moscow, for grain and oil exports. and there's also an important navy base. and i think there is a backdrop here where ukrainian ports are getting pummeled by russian drones, the majority of which are launched from its black sea navalfleet. these are waters where russia has complete control, but it seems that ukraine is trying to counter—punch further afield. in its words, it wants to stop russia from using the black sea as blackmail. but i think it also is trying to to frustrate russian supply lines. it did it last year when it successfully retook swathes of territory. and i think with its stuttering counter—offensive at the moment, it's hoped that this will directly feed into the battlefield. earlier i spoke to sam cranny—evans — an associate fellow at the royal united

yeah, i don't have anything specific on the kerch strait. kerch strait - kerch strait. sorry, i'll try that again, kursk strait. but we continue to see an accumulation of russian military power, again, around and alongside the border of ukraine and belarus. and i mentioned this the other day, and naval power in the mediterranean, and in the atlantic, and clearly the black sea. so, i can't speak to their exercise. they should be able to talk to their exercises the way i just did at the top of this briefing. but we have noted and continue to watch increasing naval developments on the russian side as well. all of this, all is this activity -- all of this activity is what leads to our concern over russian intentions here, which again, as always, remain opaque. david martin, cbs. reporter: john, you said entirely likely that if there is a plus up to europe, some of that plus up could come from troops that are already - i should say, plus up on the eastern flank of europe, some of those -- that plus up could come from troops already in europe. have any units in europe been gi

if you knock out the kerch bridge, you knock out the kerch bridge, you knock out all supply lines.then have an impact, not just in retaking crimea , but also retaking, crimea, but also retaking, ultimately kherson and zaporizhzhia . now, what is it zaporizhzhia. now, what is it going to take to actually knock out the kerch bridge ? nothing. out the kerch bridge? nothing. not even the storm shadows , i not even the storm shadows, i think can do that. which are the missiles we're sending? although it was very good because the storm shadow was used at taking out the russian , uh, ship that out the russian, uh, ship that was just taken out, which was , was just taken out, which was, by the way, bringing shahid down loans from from iran . loans from from iran. >> and so that ship matters. that ship matters because it was bringing these shahid drones that are then being launched from crimea and then attacking, you know, all the major cities in, in ukraine, particularly the, the capital. >> so what is it going to take? well, there is the atacms. we've been talking about atacms, but there

we know from russian media that actually those three vessels, they are ian kerch port. have no information about the fate of those sailors. we only know that from three to six sailors are wounded. ukrainian sources say there are six wounded sailors, and russian sources, they claim there are three wounded sailors. we have been hearing that russia has been inspecting ukrainian ships. we have now seen this escalation. what is the impact on ukraine, given its difficulty in accessing that part of the sea? actually, ukraine is trying to build its small military navy group in azov sea. these are not very big vessels. they are... i mean, tugboat saw small vessels. but still ukraine wants to build this small group to defend its own troops in the territory, which is close to rebel controlled or russian controlled territories of donbass. so ukraine is interested in building this group. and actually, a month ago, or more time ago, some ukrainian vessels actually moved. they went from 0dessa to azov sea, and actually it was not a big issue. and actually, the russian navy was not...

president putin said the strikes were retaliation for saturday's attack on the kerch bridge, the onelink between russia and occupied crimea. our correspondent paul adams reports from the centre of kyiv, where the strikes began early in the morning. explosions screaming after months of quiet in the capital, the war is back. for three chaotic hours this morning, the missiles kept coming. for one young woman, already recording her own sense of shock, a narrow escape. explosion a major city in the south of the country... my bbc colleague hugo bachega was broadcasting live when it all began. jet roars overhead so... explosion translation: they want panic and chaos, - they want to destroy our energy system, they are hopeless. the second target is people. such a time, such goals were especially chosen to cause as much damage as possible, but we are ukrainians, we help each other, we believe in ourselves. we restore everything that is destroyed. tourist locations were hit, too — this, the city's famous glass bridge. at times, it felt like a city being punished in its favourite, most iconic p

when the ships were moving to the north, trying to enter the kerch strait, what did you mean? i didn't understand. they were attacked by the russian's navy while they were moving from the kerch canal to the south. thank you, mr. president. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2018] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] >> coming up, federal trade commission chair joseph simons and the four commissioners will testify on the agency's budget and priorities before a senate commerce subcommittee. live coverage starts at 2:30 p.m. eastern on c-span3. and then tonight former president barack obama will sit down with former secretary of state james baker for a conversation at rice university. live at 8:45 p.m. on c-span2. also tonight, the victory and concession speeches in the mississippi u.s. senate runoff elections between republican smith and espy. live coverage here on c-span. >> when the new congress starts in january, there will be more than 100 new house and senate

the kerch bridge, connecting russia to the crimean peninsula in the black sea, was an important supplyor sending russian troops and artillery into ukraine. in the last few hours president putin has ordered his fsb secret service to tighten security on the peninsula. our russia editor, steve rosenberg, reports. it is the bridge the kremlin built, and it was under attack. an explosion at dawn. this was the result. russian officials claim a lorry had been blown up here and that the fire then spread to a fuel train. whatever the cause, you can see the damage. this is the bridge that links russia to annexed crimea, and parts of the road had collapsed into the sea. later, investigators announced that three people had been killed. they've opened a criminal case. the 12—mile—long road and rail bridge is not only strategically important to the kremlin as a supply route, it is also a symbol of the russian annexation of crimea. vladimir putin opened it in 2018 — getting behind the wheel to show that, as far as he was concerned, russia and crimea were joined forever. very different scenes today. p

it spans the kerch strait, which links the black sea with the sea of azov.resident vladimir putin opened the bridge to great fanfare in 2018, after illegally annexing crimea four years earlier. pres. putin: at different historical times, people dreamed of building this bridge. now finally, thanks to your work, this project, this miracle, turned true. ali: in kyiv, ukrainians greeted the bombing of putin's bridge with joy. by saturday afternoon, a mockup of a new, commemorative stamp featuring a burning bridge stood in a central square. anastasiya: e news is very pleasant. too bad it didn't happen yesterday on putin's birthday. ali: russian investigators have not yet named suspects. for its part, the ukrainian government reacted with sarcasm. its official twitter account tweeted simply, "sick burn." but in southern ukraine, the situation was worsening at the russian-occupied zaporizhia nuclear plant. officials said shelling had cut the main power line, so that it was now relying on emergency diesel generators. for "pbs news weekend," i'm ali rogin. geoff: in

russian fighter jets in russian fighterjets in the kerch strait, this stretch of water is the only waysea, which ukraine and russia share. russia says three ukrainian vessels illegally entered its waters. first it blockaded them, then it fired at them. ukraine says six of its sailors were hurt, while the russian security service says only three we re security service says only three were wounded and were getting medical care. in kiev, ukraine's president, petro poroshenko, described the russian actions as unprovoked and crazy. mps they will vote on whether to introduce martial law on monday. translation: martial law on monday. translation: martial law would be introduced in order to strengthen ukraine's defence capabilities, amid increasing aggression and according to international law, a cold act by the russian federation. it does not mean oui’ russian federation. it does not mean our refusal to resolve the issue i political and diplomatic means. we intend to adhere to all international obligations including the minsk agreements. ukraine's key ports are in the azov sea, but since russ

after the kerch bridge hours after the fire destroyed at. of at least three more deaths on another day of mass protest against the iranian authorities that have a right that after the death and custody of a young woman. videos have emerged e—mail students shouting go back when president ibrahim re see visited a women's university. five teenagers in hong kong have been felled guilty of

there are reports of explosions at the kerch bridge that connects occupied ukrainian crimea to mainland russia. the governor of crimea says on telegram the traffic has been halted over a, quote, emergency without elaborating. a telegram channel affiliated with the wagner mercenary group says there have been two strikes on the bridge. for the latest, let's bring in ali arouzi good morning, ali. what more do we know >> good morning, frances that's right the russians say that the two people are dead in what they were initially calling an emergency on the kerch bridge. now russian investigators on their telegram channel say this is a result of a terrorist attack committed by the special forces in kyiv russia's press secretary for the foreign ministry also saying that the uk and the u.s. were involved obviously, these are unconfirmed by russian authorities, but there are plenty of unconfirmed reports there was an explosion on the kerch bridge at early hours this morning now this bridge is a very important bridge, frances. it opened in 2018 giving rail and road connections from russia to crim

russian fighter jets in the kerch straits.ssia share. russia says three ukrainian vessels illegally entered its waters. first it blockaded them, then it fired at them. ukraine says six of its sailors were hurt, while the russian security service says only three were wounded and were getting medical care. in kiev, ukraine's president, petro poroshenko, described the russian actions as unprovoked and crazy. mps there will vote on whether to introduce martial law on monday. translation: martial law would be introduced to strengthen ukraine's defensive capabilities amid increasing aggression and according to international law. it does not mean oui’ to international law. it does not mean our refusal to resolve the issue by somatic beans. —— diplomatic means. ukraine's key ports are in the sea of azov, but since russia annexed crimea four years ago, it is able to block access in and out of the kerch straits. overnight in kiev, there were protests outside russia's embassy, these events like salt in wounds that have not healed. both s

- protect their infrastructure of the kerch strait bridge. once they have a completed important pipeline in the baltic sea what might they do with that? it's just something to think about. i think the germans should reconsider the balance of interest and i would -- it would do great if they would suspend nord stream ii pending the resolution of russian aggression in the ukraine. again, i don't think the time is right to deliberately target german companies of nord stream ii, much as i don't like nord stream ii, because i think we have other things we want the germans to do. final point is, we ought to be doing all of these things with europe. and if the message to putin is, the europeans have now woken up and agreed to significant sanctions against you, it may suggest to the russians that putin was not right in his calculation of the western response to the latest aggression against ukraine. we want to show that putin has misjudged us. he regards us as malleable, weak and accepting of aggressions. it is in our interest to prove him wrong. i w

witnesses reportedly say the ships said to be shown here are being held at the crimea port in kerch.ps were planning to enter the strategic waterway, the kerch strait before they were fired on. russia closed the strailt sunday but state media reports it's now been reopened for civilian vessels, and this dramatic video comes from ukraine's minister of internal affairs. it appears to show a russian ship ramming a ukrainian tugboat on sunday. ukraine's president is furious and says he wants parliament to declare marshal law. let's turn to cnn's ivan watson who is monitoring all of this from hong kong. he joins us now live. so, ivan, you are very familiar with this region and what's been happening between russia and ukraine. explain to us where this is going and the impact so far of these increased tensions. >> reporter: rosemary, ukraine and russia, two neighbors, former soviet states that have been at odds for years, but now for perhaps one of the first times we are seeing their armed forces appearing to engage in open conflict together, all in this narrow waterway. the kerch strait, a

the only way for them to get their cargo out is through the kerch strait.nly way for russia to reach their annexed crimea is via a new bridge that russia constructed. 19 kilometers long across the kerch strait and opened earlier this year. i think we have images that show you kind of where that bridge runs along here. but it also appears that the russians had begun inspecting ships traveling through here, even though it's an international waterway for both ukraine and russia. and that has been criticized, not only by the ukraine, but also by western governments and the european union as well. and in this case, the russians closed part of the waterway in response to this tension by putting a tanker under one of the new bridges that they've placed here. now the russians claim that the waterway is open to commercial traffic at the very least. while these tensions were taking place, the russians were making a show of force, not only with naval power, with coast guard power, but by flying fighter jets very close over the surface of the sea along the newly constr

the next thing you have to do is cut the carrots ridge —— cut the kerch bridge.e weapons would be better off and that is what you think the plan would be for the ukrainian point of view is to cut the kerch bridge, you have cut crimea or from to cut the kerch bridge, you have cut crimea orfrom russia. throughout this conflict, as the west has been giving more advanced weapons to ukraine is in constant concern as to how russia could respond and fears it could tip them over into some kind of nuclear reaction. how do you think russia could respond if these are given to ukraine by the us? the? could respond if these are given to ukraine by the us?— ukraine by the us? they will complain _ ukraine by the us? they will complain internationally - ukraine by the us? they will. complain internationally about ukraine by the us? they will- complain internationally about what they have done with the storm shadows and everything else is nothing. and that is because they can't do anything. the escalation here has been shown to be one of the great fig leafs of this war that the r

these are the moments the blast rocked the kerch bridge. you see it right there. it's russia's only mainland link to the annexed korean peninsula and that small stretch of water on the match is russia's only crossing. not just a critical supply line, but also a symbol of russia's attempt to claim crimea from ukraine. russia claims at least three people were killed. a russian investigative committee arrived this morning to inspect the damage and so far no one has claimed responsibility for the blast. cnn's fred pleitgen is live for us from kyiv with the very latest on this. fred, russian officials are now saying traffic has resumed on the bridge? how is that happening? >> reporter: well, they are saying that the traffic is in reverse on that bridge. they are trying to clear the cars off that bridge but trying to get the traffic moving again as fast as possible. essentially, what they are saying is that all of this happened, this explosion happened in the early morning hours of this morning. when the lacey latest that they have is a struck they say exploded, even th

bbc�*s kyiv correspondent was reporting live at the time about russia's potential response to the kerche explosion. the fear is that this could trigger a very strong russian response, we saw yesterday that a residential area of the city of zaporizhzhia, a major city in the south of country very close the front lines was hit, more than a dozen... explosion kyiv was not alone zaporizhzhia — a city close to the front — was heavily targeted on sunday. this nine—storey apartment block was partially destroyed, levelling five other residential buildings and damaging many more. another 13 people were reported killed there, and 87 reported injured, including 10 children. in dnipro a bus driver and several passangers were injured when a missile struckjust ahead of a city bus the major western city of lviv was struck. there local officials report that critical infrastructure — including power and water facilities — were targeted. they will do and have targeted critical infrastructure and now people are without electricity, water. today we are battling and using generations. of course we will have

now restricting pass saage thro the kerch strait.ually it is strange given how barack obama led sanctions in 2014 after they invaded crimea. to see donald trump contemplating a meeting with putin at that late stage. now banning all residents from int entering ukrainian territory. now with historical precedent that he doesn't want to let the russians in to create private armies after the takeover the crimea in the east of the country. also behind me, i think a sense of concern about where this leads next. ukraine has not got the international support after the annexation of crimea. it is concerned that maybe russia is trying to impose the military control of the whole of the azov sea and staying in the port. the concern that moscow has its eye on controlling the coastline. that runs down russia main and the crimea peninsula which they annexed in 2014. they can only reach that through a precarious bridge. does moscow want a bridge between russia and crimea? we will see. many are wondering the long-term strategic game that has risked in

not to continue participation in the black sea grain deal had nothing to do with the attack on the kerchdge linking the russian mainland with the crimean peninsula. and it comes really as no surprise. in recent days, the russian authorities have been strongly hinting they wouldn't continue in the grain deal. just a few days ago, president putin was shown in an interview on russian televion saying "enough is enough." he said that russia would suspend its participation in this deal, until its demands are met. what are those demands? russia has been complaining for some time that there are obstacles to the export of its own grain and fertiliser. that is number one. number two, the russians have been demanding that a russian bank that handles agricultural payments should be reconnected to the global swift payment network. these are some russia's demands. what the russians are doing is saying, "0k, we are pulling out and suspending for the moment". but they have left a way open to go back. they are saying, "as soon as our demands are met, we "will go back to the deal." interestingly, there we

reporter: those attempts refer to an explosion saturday which have damaged the kerch bridge, linkingmea to the russian mainland. a chairman said the blast was an act of terrorism that would not pass unpunished, describing russia's missile strikes as episode one. both threatened further and harsher action. this has damaged the image of russia as some analysts say moscow wanted to show what their forces are still capable of, though its options seem more limited. >> other attacks in the coming days, because they have been happening from time to time during this conflict. but i do not believe russia has the capacity to send as many missiles deep into ukraine as they did today, or on a day-to-day basis. i believe it will be a one-time kind of response revenge attack. reporter: putin's ally in belarus says his country was a target of what he called ukraine terrorist plots. >> tell the president of ukraine and other lunatics, if any are still there, that the crimean bridge will seem to them a walk in the park if they ever touch a single square meter of our territory with their dirty hands.

. >> reporter: ukraine is hours away from introducing marshall law as a response to the kerch strait where the ukrainian vessels were boarded and sailors were taken captive. russia, for their part, said this was a provocation. this is the more muted response from the u.s. president and the falls into the pattern of the russian actions in the east of ukraine to undermine the ukrainian government and ukrainian economy. it has been about what moscow thinks it can get away with. the insurance secident in the a shows how they are able to confront and arrest the military. the war has continued, but it used proxies to continue the fighting. this is a clear military on military confrontation. i think there are many analysts looking to see where moscow may be testing the waters with the young trump administration to see how far they can go and perhaps use the window ahead of the g20 summit in argentina and see how far they can push washington in the willingness to stand up for ukraine. and it has many in ukraine on edge with what russia will do. it has guarantees of constitutional rights. som

the attacks seen as retaliation for this massive explosion on the kerch bridge which connects russia'snd to crimea, which russia illegally annexed in 2014. >> the kerch bridge is a strategic target because it is, frankly, one of those prestige projects. it's a big blow to russia's war effort, especially if they're able to take it out. >> reporter: russian president vladimir putin personally opened the bridge in 2018. today, it's still badly damaged from the attack. russia announcing that eight people were arrested in connection with the bombing. >> pressure has been building on putin over the course of the past several weeks, certainly since the beginning of september with these massive reversals on the battlefield, lots of territory being liberated by the ukrainian armed forces. and growing pressure, growing calls from national forces, growing calls from the right-wing, from the hawks, to take some sort of action. >> reporter: defense secretary lloyd austin calling out russia's deadly missile attacks on ukraine's cities. >> putin has given us all another grim preview of a future in wh

of that on full display in the early hours of this morning when a naval drone took out part of the kerch bridge that links russia with ukraine. we will discuss tonight what that means two ukraine's counteroffensive. also, reaction to the news that russia is restoring its grain blockade in the black sea. the un says the poorest countries will play the price if ukraine is denied access to world markets. and a breakthrough on alzheimer's treatment, two new drugs coming to market that will slow the effects of the disease, giving hope to millions of families all around the world. all of that to come. on sunday, vladimir putin told the russian people that the ukrainian counteroffensive had failed. in the early hours of this morning, the ukrainian special forces sent an unmanned naval drone, controlled remotely, and blew up his bridge that links ukraine with mainland russia. the daylight pictures show that one side of it is now out of action. for ukrainians, the kerch bridge, which was inaugurated by vladimir putin in 2018, is a hated symbol of russian occupation. for moscow, it is a vital link

the incident happened as the ships were moving through the kerch strait.a's illegal annexation of crimea in 2014. and also because more recently russia has built this bridge linking crimea to the russian mainland. that is also being seen as highly provocative. another development today — the ukrainian navy released a picture of one of its patrol boats, showing damage from russian naval artillery. and that all connects to this incident on sunday. a russian boat ramming a smaller ukranian vessel. well in response ukraine yesterday imposed martial law because its concerned about russian aggression on land — remember russia has also supported separatist rebels in the east of ukraine in recent years. russia maintains that the three ships were trying to cross its maritime territory without permission. this is russia's foreign minister. translation: this incident was intentionally provoked by ukraine. two members of ukraine's security service, who were on the ships, already giving testimonies which are available to the media. in my opinion, everyone should be ver