Russia continued its rush on Sunday to reestablish supply lines to Crimea, after an explosion on Saturday damaged a bridge that serves as a critical supply route for Russia's troops in Ukraine.
Driving the news: By Saturday night, some limited road and rail traffic had resumed on the Kerch Bridge.
- Russia's Ministry of Transport said on Sunday that all freight and long-distance passenger trains were running according to schedule and that ferries would help transport additional freight and passengers across the Kerch Strait, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- Russia dispatched a team of divers on Sunday to examine the damage to the bridge, per Reuters.
State of play: "The situation is manageable — it's unpleasant, but not fatal," Crimea's Kremlin-installed leader Sergei Aksyonov told reporters Saturday, Reuters reported.
- Crimea has a month's worth of fuel and more than two months' worth of food to keep it going, Aksyonov added.
- Russia's Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that Russian forces in southern Ukraine could be supplied "fully and without interruption” through land and sea routes, per the New York Times.
The big picture: Following the bridge's explosion, Russian missiles rained down residential buildings in the Ukrainian city of Zaporizhzhia overnight, AP reported.
- The rocket attack killed at least 17 people and wounded 40 others, Zaporizhzhia city council Secretary Anatoliy Kurtev wrote on Telegram.
- This is the second Russian missile attack on residential buildings in Zaporizhzhia this week.
- The region is home to Europe's largest nuclear power station, where intermittent shelling over the past few months has sparked international outcry and concerns of a potential nuclear disaster.
Rafael Grossi, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, warned in a statement Saturday that the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant's external power source had been cut by shelling, forcing the plant to rely on its emergency diesel generators for necessary cooling operations.
- The diesel generators have enough fuel to maintain operations for 10 days, the statement added.
