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Russia-Ukraine War Is Dragging The World Towards Nuclear Armageddon; Iran’s Entry Adds Fuel To Flames

War in Ukraine has escalated recently, particularly after a bomb blast that damaged the bridge over the Kerch Strait, a key supply route for Russia’s forces in southern Ukraine.

The bridge is also a significant artery for the port of Sevastopol, where the Russian Black Sea fleet is based. It had prompted “gleeful messages from Ukrainian officials but no claim of responsibility,” as BBC put it.

The White House on Sunday declined direct comment on the Kerch Bridge blast but said the United States would continue to arm Ukraine.

The damage to the bridge, an imposing symbol of Russia’s annexation of the Crimean Peninsula, came amid some sundry battlefield debacles for Russia.

It also took place at a time when concerns mounted that Russia could resort to using nuclear weapons after Putin, in recent weeks, repeatedly cautioned the West that any attack on Russia could provoke a nuclear response.

President Putin has accused Ukraine of orchestrating the explosion of a critical bridge linking Russia and Crimea, an act he described as terrorism. On Sunday, Putin met Alexander Bastrykin, the head of Russia’s Investigative Committee, who presented findings of an inquiry into what he said was Saturday’s explosion of a vehicle and subsequent fire on the bridge.

Speaking on camera, Bastrykin said investigators had established the vehicle’s route and the individuals involved in its movements. He said it had gone through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, and Russia’s Krasnodar region before arriving on the bridge.

Among those who helped Ukrainian special services prepare were “citizens of Russia and foreign countries,” Bastrykin added.

A criminal case has been launched on the explosion, Andrei Kartapolov, chairman of the defense committee of the State Duma, Russia’s lower house of parliament, told the Vedomosti news site, adding that “guilty parties” would be named.”

Russia Convinced Of NATO-Ukraine Conspiracy

Putin is convinced that the bombing of the Kerch Bridge is a conspiracy of NATO and Ukrainian secret sleuths keeping in mind the strategic significance of the bridge. Now the prestige of Russia was involved.

Putin did not think that the air strikes that he had ordered would be the adequate answer to the conspiracy to destroy the Kerch Bridge. Russian aircraft had launched at least 12 missiles, partially destroying a nine-story apartment block, leveling five other residential buildings, and damaging many more, Oleksandr Starukh, governor of the region, said on state-run television.




Vladimir Putin
Russian President Vladimir Putin (via Twitter)

Repudiating the Western propaganda that the damaged bridge had disabled Russian supplies and travel, the Russian Transport Ministry, quoted by RIA news agency, said nearly 1,500 people and 162 heavy cargoes had traveled by ferry across the Kerch Strait since the explosion.

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday its forces in southern Ukraine could be “fully supplied” through existing land and sea routes.

Putin said on Monday that Ukraine had committed “terrorist acts” against Russia and pledged to react forcefully if they continued.

In televised remarks, Putin said Moscow had launched long-range missile attacks against Ukraine’s energy, military, and communications infrastructure on Monday in retaliation for an attack on a vital bridge linking Russia to the annexed Crimean Peninsula over the weekend.

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