Editor's Pick: A blast in Crimea

A powerful explosion on Saturday damaged Russia’s rail-and-road bridge to Crimea. The structure was a symbol of prestige of Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula and the key supply route to Russian forces battling to hold territory captured in Southern Ukraine. The blast took place a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70 th birthday. Additionally, it coincided with the naming of the Air Force General Sergei Surovikin, Russia’s third senior military appointment within a week, to take overall charge of the invasion effort. While Russia has not blamed anyone until this newsletter was written, several Ukrainian officials had gleefully reacted to the development. The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Olseksiy Danilov, posted a video of the aftermath of the incident with a caption, “Happy Birthday, Mr President”. The 19-kilometre Crimea bridge over the Kerch Strait is the sole direct transportation link between Moscow and the Crimean Peninsula. The bridge was inaugurated with great fanfare by President Putin in 2018, four years after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The bridge was built on an overall budget outlay of $3.6 billion. According to news agency Reuters, the bridge is of crucial for the supply of fuel, food and other products to Crimea, where the port of Sevastopol is the historic home base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It was the major supply route for Russian forces in the ongoing invasion, strategically helping it seize southern Ukraine’s Kherson region and parts of the adjoining Zaporizhzhia province. Notwithstanding the damage, road traffic resumed 10 hours after the blast with rail traffic expected to resume later today. According to the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee a freight truck had blown up on the bridge’s roadway at about 6:07 A.M. local time. It caused several fuel tanker wagons to catch fire on a train heading for the peninsula on the bridge’s upper level. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. Click here The Hindu Explains Does palaeogenomics explain our origins? What lies at the heart of the 2022 Physics Nobel? The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Manasseh Sogavare is the Prime Minister of which nation? Fiji The Solomon Islands Vanuatu Papua New Guinea To know the answer and to take the quiz, click here [logo] Editor's Pick 09 OCTOBER 2022 [The Hindu logo] In the Editor's Pick newsletter, The Hindu explains why a story was important enough to be carried on the front page of today's edition of our newspaper. [Arrow]( [Open in browser]( [Mail icon]( [More newsletters]( [Privacy Info]( A blast in Crimea A [powerful explosion on Saturday]( damaged [Russia’s rail-and-road bridge to Crimea](. The structure was a symbol of prestige of Moscow’s annexation of the peninsula and the key supply route to Russian forces battling to hold territory captured in Southern Ukraine. The blast took place a day after Russian President Vladimir Putin celebrated his 70 th birthday. Additionally, it coincided with the naming of the Air Force General Sergei Surovikin, Russia’s third senior military appointment within a week, to take overall charge of the invasion effort. While Russia has not blamed anyone until this newsletter was written, several Ukrainian officials had gleefully reacted to the development. The head of Ukraine’s National Security and Defence Council, Olseksiy Danilov, posted a video of the aftermath of the incident with a caption, “Happy Birthday, Mr President”. The 19-kilometre Crimea bridge over the Kerch Strait is the sole direct transportation link between Moscow and the Crimean Peninsula. The bridge was inaugurated with great fanfare by President Putin in 2018, four years after Russia seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The bridge was built on an overall budget outlay of $3.6 billion. According to news agency Reuters, the bridge is of crucial for the supply of fuel, food and other products to Crimea, where the port of Sevastopol is the historic home base of Russia’s Black Sea Fleet. It was the major supply route for Russian forces in the ongoing invasion, strategically helping it seize southern Ukraine’s Kherson region and parts of the adjoining Zaporizhzhia province. Notwithstanding the damage, road traffic resumed 10 hours after the blast with rail traffic expected to resume later today. According to the Russian National Anti-Terrorism Committee a freight truck had blown up on the bridge’s roadway at about 6:07 A.M. local time. It caused several fuel tanker wagons to catch fire on a train heading for the peninsula on the bridge’s upper level. Was this newsletter forwarded to you? Head over to our newsletter subscription page to sign up for Editor‘s Pick and more. [Click here]( The Hindu Explains [Arrow][Does palaeogenomics explain our origins?]( [Arrow][What lies at the heart of the 2022 Physics Nobel?]( The Hindu’s Daily Quiz Manasseh Sogavare is the Prime Minister of which nation? - Fiji - The Solomon Islands - Vanuatu - Papua New Guinea To know the answer and to take the quiz, [click here]( Today’s Best Reads [[Election Commission freezes Shiv Sena symbol, name] Election Commission freezes Shiv Sena symbol, name]( [[Explained | How is ‘click chemistry’ more energy efficient?] Explained | How is ‘click chemistry’ more energy efficient?]( [[Shashi Tharoor | The diplomat-politician] Shashi Tharoor | The diplomat-politician]( [[Government to kick off FY24 Budget making exercise on October 10] Government to kick off FY24 Budget making exercise on October 10]( Copyright @ 2022, THG PUBLISHING PVT LTD. If you are facing any trouble in viewing this newsletter, please [try here]( If you do not wish to receive such emails [go here](