Large fire reported on key bridge linking Russia to Crimea
Kharkiv (Ukraine) (AP): Russian state-backed media reported on Saturday that a fire broke out on the bridge linking mainland Russia with the Russian-controlled Crimean Peninsula, hours after powerful blasts rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.
RIA-Novosti and the Tass news agency quoted local Russian official Oleg Kryuchkov as saying an object thought to be a fuel storage tank caught fire and that traffic has been stopped on the bridge.
Images shared on social media purported to show fire and damage to the span. The authenticity of the reports and images couldn't be immediately verified.
The crossing is a pair of road and rail bridges that Russia built after it seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in violation of international law in 2014.
The fire occurred hours after explosions rocked the eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv early on Saturday, sending towering plumes of smoke into the sky and triggering a series of secondary explosions.
Kharkiv Mayor Ihor Terekhov said on Telegram that the early-morning explosions were the result of missile strikes in the center of the city. He said that the blasts sparked fires at one of the city's medical institutions and a nonresidential building. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The blasts came hours after Russia concentrated attacks in its increasingly troubled invasion of Ukraine on areas it illegally annexed, while the death toll from earlier missile strikes on apartment buildings in the southern city of Zaporizhzhia rose to 14.
On Friday, the Norwegian Nobel Committee awarded the Nobel Peace Prize to human rights organizations in Russia and Ukraine, and to an activist jailed in Belarus, an ally of Moscow.
Berit Reiss-Andersen, the committee's chair, said the honor went to three outstanding champions of human rights, democracy, and peaceful coexistence", though it was widely seen as a rebuke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and his conduct of Europe's worst armed conflict since World War II.
Putin this week illegally claimed four regions of Ukraine as Russian territory, including the Zaporizhzhia region that is home to Europe's largest nuclear power plant, whose reactors were shut down last month.
Crimean bridge. Ooops. Someone was smoking again in an unauthorized area 🤷♀️ pic.twitter.com/Exmagn6N8r
— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) October 8, 2022
Aftermath #CrimeaBridge
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) October 8, 2022
First Footage of aftermath of the explosion on #Crimea Bridge.
A strong #fire on the Crimean rail bridge in the city of #Kerch. Russian says is was a fuel tanker, some say it was Ukraine strike.#Crimea #Fire #Russia #Ukraine #RussiaIsLosing #crimeabridge pic.twitter.com/VR6IFUZ5QH
WATCH: #BNNRussia Reports
— Gurbaksh Singh Chahal (@gchahal) October 8, 2022
A truck bomb explosion on Saturday resulted in a portion of the bridge connecting Russia and the Crimean Peninsula catching fire and ultimately collapsing, according to Russian authorities. pic.twitter.com/FbM00kv5wi
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K'taka Minister Parameshwara distances himself from 'next CM' slogans raised by supporters
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara on Thursday distanced himself from slogans raised by his supporters in Tumakuru, projecting him as the next Chief Minister, and asserted that he would not fuel speculation or lobby for the post as any decision rests with the party high command.
Speaking to reporters in Bengaluru, Parameshwara said he had no role in the slogans raised by his followers and reiterated that leadership decisions would be taken at the appropriate time by the party leadership.
“I am not prepared to create any more confusion,” he said, adding that “our High Command will take a decision at the appropriate time.”
Responding to questions about alleged lobbying by party workers and supporters, he said, “I am not going to do any lobbying. Didn’t you hear what I said yesterday? Someone asked me whether I was going to Delhi. I did not go to Delhi. That’s it.”
The minister also said such decisions are left to the Congress high command.
He maintained that while well-wishers may express their feelings, he had discouraged them from doing so.
“Our well-wishers here may be expressing their feelings. How can I tell them not to do that? I have told them not to do it… but in all this, as I said, I am not going to join or encourage this confusion,” he said.
Regarding missing children cases, the Home Minister said the government was taking it seriously.
He also said that instructions had been issued to trace foreigners overstaying their visas.
He also referred to ongoing verification drives in Bengaluru to identify illegal stay and scrutinise identity documents.
Reiterating that recruitment to vacant government posts would continue in a phased manner, Parameshwara said discussions would be held on employment generation and other administrative matters.
