Russia-Ukraine War News: Shelling cuts power to Ukraine nuclear site

Russia's foreign ministry on Saturday said Ukraine's reaction to a huge blast that ripped through the bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the mainland showed Kyiv's "terrorist nature". "The reaction of the Kyiv regime to the destruction of civilian infrastructure shows its terrorist nature," the ministry's spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Telegram.

Russia on Saturday opened a criminal probe into a blast that blew up a truck and heavily damaged a vital bridge linking Moscow-annexed Crimea to the mainland.Russia's investigative committee said it had "initiated a criminal case in connection with the incident on the Crimean bridge," adding that "a truck was blown up". "According to preliminary information, this morning on the automobile part of the Crimean bridge from the side of the Taman Peninsula, a truck was blown up, which caused seven fuel tanks to ignite on a train heading towards the Crimea peninsula," the committee said.

A fuel tank was on fire on the Kerch bridge in Crimea early on Saturday, Russia’s RIA state news agency reported, while Ukraine’s media reported an explosion.“According to preliminary information a fuel tank on fire on one of the sections of the Crimean bridge, the shipping arches are not damaged,” RIA reported citing a local official. Traffic on the bridge was suspended. Ukraine’s media reported that a blast took place on the bridge at around 6 a.m.

Russian President Vladimir Putin marked his 70th birthday with little fanfare and a decree targeting a key Western energy investment, but signs gew that key parts of his Ukraine invasion were unravelling to trigger unprecedented criticism at home. News programmes made only glancing references to Friday's event and celebrations were low-key - in contrast to just a week ago, when Putin held a huge concert on Red Square to proclaim the annexation of nearly a fifth of Ukrainian land.