Putin to Meet With Security Council After Crimea Bridge Explosion

Russian President Vladimir Putin is reportedly scheduled to meet with his national security council Monday following Saturday's explosion at the Kerch Strait Bridge, which connects Crimea to the Russian mainland. Putin has called it an act of terror by Ukraine, and Russia's nuclear doctrine could be discussed at the security council meeting.

Dmitry Peskov, who's Putin's press secretary, was asked Sunday if the bridge explosion fell under Russia's nuclear doctrine, potentially triggering a possible nuclear scenario.

"No. It's a completely wrong statement of the question," Peskov said in the Russian propaganda media RIA.

"The Security Council is scheduled for tomorrow. We will orient ourselves on the topics after the president speaks," Peskov said.

Putin on Sunday met with Alexander Bastrykin, head of the investigative committee. Putin called the bridge explosion a "terrorist attack" with intentions on destroying "critical civilian infrastructure."

"There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure," Putin said in a video. "This was devised, carried out and ordered by the Ukrainian special services."

What happened with the Kerch Strait Bridge?

On Saturday morning (October 8), a large fire broke out on the railway branch of the bridge. The Russian Federation Investigative Committee stated that a truck exploded on the bridge, causing three deaths.

Later in the day, traffic for cars and buses resumed across the bridge, and the railway connection had been restored.

The war enters its 229th day of fighting on Monday. Russia began building troops along Ukraine's northern and western borders in late January, and they began attacking Ukraine on February 24, 2022. Since then, there have been heavy casualties on both sides. That includes Ukrainian civilians, foreign fighters, Ukrainian military and more than 62,000 Russians.

Russia failed to overtake Kyiv, Lviv and Odesa, but they occupied many regions in the eastern portion of Ukraine. Russia has occupied most of the Donbas Oblast, which includes Luhansk, Severodonetsk, Donetsk and Mariupol. They occupied the Crimea peninsula in 2014.

Russia also occupied the major southern cities of Kherson and Melitopol, inching their way toward Odesa and the southwestern Transnistria area near the Moldova border.

Russia last week annexed four Ukrainian regions–Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson-claiming the citizens of those regions overwhelmingly voted for it. The U.S. State Department called the annexation "vote" a "sham." U.S. officials called the illegitimate annexation illegal.

"We will not stand by as Putin fraudulently attempts to annex parts of Ukraine," U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Janet Yellen said.

Newsweek reached out to the Russian Foreign Ministry for comment.