Mary Pintea – News Editor

mvp5879@psu.edu

After several days of Russian missile strikes, Ukraine is only facing more. 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called upon other nations for assistance in defending the nation’s airspace. In his nightly address on Wed., Oct. 12, Zelenskyy stated, “the more audacious and cruel Russian terror becomes, the more obvious it is to the world that helping Ukraine to protect the sky is one of the most important humanitarian tasks for Europe.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expected to meet with Turkey’s President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, on Thursday. It is predicted that Erdogan will offer to host peace talks between Russia and the West in a bid to end the ongoing conflict, something that has been tried several times since the beginning of the conflict. 

This all comes after the Kerch Strait Bridge—a symbol of Putin’s illegal annexation of Crimea—was partially destroyed by a blast. The bridge links the Crimean Peninsula to Russia and has been a key route for Russian troops. 

 Ukraine has not claimed responsibility for the explosion, but officials have taken to social media to post optimistic messages. Mykhailo Podolyak, an advisor to Zelenskyy, posted, “Everything illegal must be destroyed, everything that is stolen must be returned to Ukraine, everything occupied by Russia must be expelled…” The Security Service of Ukraine later posted that the bridge “beautifully burns.”

Russian military forces utilized the bridge as a supply route for freshly mobilized troops, ammunition, and civilian necessities. Broken weaponry and wounded troop members were also transported over the bridge. Its destruction has crippled the “special military campaign” organized by the Kremlin, adding to the lack of morale among Russian troops and thinning military supplies. 

On Oct. 12, the Russian Federal Security Service, otherwise known as the FSB,  claimed the attack was orchestrated by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, headed by Kyrylo Budanov, employees, and agents. Five citizens of Russia and three citizens of Ukraine and Armenia have been detained by Russian forces. Russian officials had initially claimed that the explosion was caused by a truck explosion on the bridge, but it is now known that the blast was from an explosive device. 

Ukraine has yet to comment on the claims by the FSB.

Now that the bridge is destroyed, Russia may find it harder to generate support from citizens, something they have already been struggling with. Keir Giles, a senior consulting fellow at a London think tank, says that “Instead of spinning the facts, [Russia is] now spinning out of control.”