DOUBLE DOWN
Putin accuses Ukraine of ‘terrorism’ over Crimea bridge ahead of crunch meeting today as Vlad feared to ‘go NUCLEAR’
VLADIMIR Putin has blamed Ukraine for the Crimea bridge blast and described it as an “act of terrorism”.
The 12-mile long Kerch Bridge was badly damaged after a truck reportedly exploded, killing three people.
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In a meeting with the chairman of Russia’s Investigative Committee Alexander Bastrykin, Putin said: "There’s no doubt it was a terrorist act directed at the destruction of critically important civilian infrastructure.
"The authors, perpetrators and sponsors are the Ukrainian secret services."
Bastrykin said he had opened a criminal case into an act of terrorism, adding Ukrainian special services and citizens of Russia and other countries took part in the act.
"We have already established the route of the truck that Russian authorities have said set off a bomb and explosion on the bridge," he said.
Bastrykin added the truck had been to Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia, Krasnodar (a region in southern Russia) and other places.
Ukrainian officials have not taken responsibility for the blast.
It comes after it was announced the Russian President will hold a crunch meeting with his inner circle tomorrow as fears grow he could make good on his threats to use nuclear weapons.
Putin's spokesman confirmed Vlad will chair a meeting of the Security Council just days after the catastrophic explosion on the bridge linking mainland Russia to annexed Crimea.
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The Security Council is Russia's top decision making body on matters of defence and is personally headed up by Putin.
The humiliating explosion of the Kerch Bridge has led to furious Russian officials calling for strikes on big cities.
The massive blast on the 12-mile bridge killed three people and cut a vital supply line for Russian forces on Ukraine’s southern front.
Western officials believe the Russian leader will now seek revenge for the blast and fear he even might go nuclear.
"Tomorrow the president has a planned meeting with the permanent members of the Security Council," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
Putin will be meeting with 12 of the most powerful people in Russia, including his defence minister, Sergei Shoigu, and the director of the FSB, Aleksandr Bortnikov.
He held a meeting of the Security Council just days before he invaded Ukraine.
Other members of the council include close Putin ally Dimitry Medvedev, foreign minister Sergei Lavrov, and the heads of the upper and lower houses of Russia's parliament.
Kremlin officials had previously warned any attack on the Kerch Strait would trigger “judgement day” for Kyiv.
And fears loom in the West about how Putin could seek to escalate the war as he faces defeat after humiliating defeat in Ukraine.
'MIGHT GO NUCLEAR'
General Lord Dannatt, the former head of the Army, said he expected more indiscriminate shelling of Ukrainian civilian targets adding that there was the risk Putin “might go nuclear”.
Meanwhile, top pro-Kremlin propagandist Vladimir Solovyov is demanding a brutal Stalinist response to decimate Ukraine and round up all Russians against total war in the wake of the humiliating hit on the Crimean Bridge.
Alluding to an enemy within, Solovyov called for a return of the brutal Stalin-era SMERSH counter-intelligence to crush all internal opposition to full-scale war in Ukraine.
SMERSH - whose motto was Death to Spies - was used by Joseph Stalin to obliterate subversion during and after the Second World War.
Solovyov said: “For the Western world we are already villains [so] let them be afraid of us, rather than us be bullied.
“It's time to answer using all means and tools.
“It's time to remember Soviet military training and act decisively and creatively.
“Not following the enemy's scenario, but breaking their plans, striking unexpected blows in directions where the enemy is not expecting them.
"Ukraine should be plunged into dark times.
“Bridges, dams, railways, thermal power plants and other infrastructure facilities should be destroyed throughout Ukraine.
“The country should switch to a military mode - entirely."
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Russian officials have called for a revenge attack following the hit on the bridge that connects Crimea to mainland Russia, with a Putin ally claiming that devastating Sarmat missiles are set to target big cities.
In a video shared on Twitter, the deputy governor of Stavropol Valery Chernitsov said: "Ukrainians, leave your cities, especially the large ones. Because a big surprise is waiting for you.
"Sarmat missiles are ready to strike."
Crimea's governor Sergei Aksyonov said here is a "healthy desire to seek revenge" following the blast, adding that "the situation is manageable - it's unpleasant, but not fatal."
Previously Russian officials said they expected an aggressive response.
Russian senator Alexander Bashkin said: “This was a declaration of war without rules.”
He said the Kremlin response will be “adequate, conscious and, possibly, asymmetric”, the reports.
Russia has already launched an apparent response to the explosion of the Crimea bridge by repeatedly shelling the southern city of Zaporizhzhia killing at least 17 people.
Ukrainian officials said the strike damaged residential buildings and left dozens of civilians trapped in the rubble.
Kyiv has not claimed responsibility but an adviser to President Volodymyr Zelensky said this was “just the beginning”, adding: “Everything that is stolen must be returned to Ukraine”.
The Ukrainian security service said “the bridge burns beautifully”.
Zelensky took the opportunity to mock Putin in a comical weather report.
During his nightly video address on Telegram on Saturday, the Ukrainian leader quipped that conditions were "cloudy in Crimea".
President Zelensky said: "Today was a good and mostly sunny day in our country.
"Over most of the territory, it was about 20 degrees Celsius and sunny.
"Unfortunately, it was cloudy in Crimea, although it was still warm.
"But however the clouds are, Ukrainians know what to do, and they know that our future is sunny.”
The Crimea Bridge has now partially reopened to traffic but video footage shows it has been badly damaged.
Part of the road bridge has collapsed into the sea and a fire has destroyed a section of the railway alongside it.
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