Russia Reels: From ‘Pearl Harbor’ to Its Own ‘Bridge on the River Kwai’
In a bold escalation, Ukraine’s security services claim their third strike on the heavily fortified Kerch Bridge—just days after coordinated attacks on Russian military air bases.
Ukraine claimed to hit a key bridge that links Russia and Moscow-occupied Crimea with underwater explosives two days after it launched a wave of drones deep into Russian territory that damaged dozens of long-range bombers, sending shock waves across the country. Ukraine's Security Service (SBU) said in a statement on June 3 that an operation several months in the making saw agents mine the supports of the Kerch Strait bridge with a total of 1,100 kilograms (2,420 pounds) of explosives. Video posted on the SBU website -- which has been verified by RFE/RL -- shows a large explosion under the bridge, though it is not clear how much damage the blast did. The SBU said the bridge was "in a state of emergency." Russian authorities said earlier in the day that they had temporarily suspended road traffic on it, though later on it appeared as though vehicles were again using the bridge. The 19-kilometer Kerch Bridge, with carries both road and rail traffic, was built by Russia and opened in 2018 -- four years after Moscow illegally annexed the peninsula -- and serves as an important supply route for Russian forces occupying parts of southern Ukraine. It was damaged by Ukrainian attacks in October 2022 and July 2023 and has frequently been closed during security incidents. "No illegal Russian facilities have a place on the territory of our state. Therefore, the Crimean [Kerch] Bridge is an absolutely legitimate target, especially considering that the enemy used it as a logistical artery to supply its troops," the head of the SBU, Vasyl Malyuk, said in the SBU statement, noting there were no civilian casualties. "Crimea is Ukraine, and any manifestations of occupation will receive our tough response." - RFE/RL
Russia has launched a massive manhunt for a former DJ and his wife, an erotic novelist, after they were linked to Ukraine’s stunning “Russian Pearl Harbor” attack on its air bases. Ukraine’s surprise attack — dubbed “Operation Spider Web” — managed to wipe out or damage dozens of the Kremlin’s nuclear bombers and other aircraft after explosives-laden drones were stashed in a slew of trucks that were driven onto the air bases. Russia is hunting Artem Timofeev, a 37-year-old former Ukrainian DJ who they say owns the truck company. His 34-year-old wife, Ekaterina “Katya” Timofeeva — who moonlights as an erotic writer — is believed to have aided him, Russian media outlets reported. “Artem is now wanted in connection with a terrorist attack in Irkutsk region,” Russian online news source Readovka reported. “Four lorries were registered in his name, and one of them was the source of the drones that launched [in an attack on a Russian air base].” His wife, who penned a book titled “I Became Bad While You Loved Me,” hasn’t been online in two weeks and has since scrubbed her usually active social media accounts, according to reports. Timofeev was apparently last seen at the couple’s apartment in the Russian city of Chelyabinsk roughly a week ago. The couple reportedly grew up in Ukraine but later moved to Russia, though it wasn’t clear when. Timofeev is said to have set up his trucking business in December last year - NY Post
Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has met with her Slovak and French counterparts in Rome. Talks with Slovakia's Prime Minister Robert Fico centred on lasting peace in Ukraine while a working dinner with French President Emmanuel Macron was seen as an opportunity to find some common ground on issues where both leaders' positions have diverged. Fico is a divisive figure at home with his critics accusing him of being pro-Russia. In January, Fico threatened to cut financial aid for more than 130,000 Ukrainian refugees living in the country as part of a set of retaliatory measures against Kyiv over its decision to halt the flow of Russian gas through its territory to Slovakia - Euronews
Watch my live interview from Odesa on CBS News, just a few hours after Ukraine special security forces launched an audacious third attack on the Kerch Bridge linking illegally Russian-occupied Crimea with the Russian mainland.
Steve Bannon says Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. should not be let back into the United States, or put in jail if he’s allowed home. Bannon criticized Graham on NewsNation’s “CUOMO” for, in his eyes, escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia. The “Bannon’s War Room” host claimed both Ukraine and Graham’s actions are sucking the United States into another war, one that could escalate to global conflict. “Two things ought to happen: either cancel his passport and don’t let him back in the country, or put him in jail if he comes back,” Bannon said. “Lindsey Graham is stirring it up right now, and people better wake up to the fact that we’re getting sucked into this war, and if we get sucked in much more, it’s going to be tough” to get out. Chris Cuomo disagreed, saying Graham’s behavior doesn’t warrant such measures. “I’m just saying you can’t be throwing people in jail because you don’t like what they say. That’s my only point,” Cuomo said. “I’m not saying that you’re wrong about where this might lead and how dangerous it is, and that’s why I wanted you on to discuss it.” - NewsNation
The Trump administration is proposing an arrangement that would allow Iran to continue enriching uranium at low levels while the United States and other countries work out a more detailed plan intended to block Iran’s path to a nuclear weapon but give it access to fuel for new nuclear power plants. The proposal amounts to a bridge between the current situation, in which Iran is rapidly producing near-bomb-grade uranium, and the U.S. goal of Iran enriching no uranium at all on its soil. Under the proposal, the United States would facilitate the building of nuclear power reactors for Iran and negotiate the construction of enrichment facilities managed by a consortium of regional countries. Once Iran began receiving any benefits from those promises, it would have to stop all enrichment in the country. The outline of the potential deal, which was described on the condition of anonymity by Iranian and European officials, was handed to Iran over the weekend. Officials in Tehran indicated on Monday that a response would come in several days - NYT
The US has warned Britain and France against recognising a Palestinian state at a UN conference later this month. France and Saudi Arabia are set to co-host a major UN conference on the two-state solution beginning on 17 June in New York. France is reportedly gearing up to unilaterally recognise a Palestinian state at the conference. MEE understands that France has been lobbying Britain to do so as well. French officials believe the British government is onboard with the plan, according to French media. But Washington privately begun to warn Britain and France against unilaterally recognising Palestine, sources with knowledge of the matter in the British Foreign Office told MEE - Middle East Eye
Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, says Palestinians in Gaza are risking and losing their lives to get food.
“We are witnessing unthinkable loss of life in Gaza,” Dujarric told reporters.
The Israeli military has fatally shot dozens of Palestinians near aid distribution sites in recent days. “The secretary-general continues to call for an immediate and independent investigation into these events and for the perpetrators to be held to account,” Dujarric said - Al Jazeera
Dutch far-right figurehead Geert Wilders announced Tuesday morning that his party would quit the government in The Hague, throwing the Netherlands into turmoil. Wilders’ Party for Freedom (PVV) left the coalition in a heated dispute over the government’s position on asylum. “No signature for our asylum plans. No changes to the [coalition] agreement. PVV is leaving the coalition,” Wilders posted on X. Prime Minister Dick Schoof announced Tuesday afternoon that he’d hand in the resignation of the government to the King, triggering a new election less than a year after his government took office. While the PVV members of the government are resigning, Schoof said that the remainder of the government — including himself — would stay on in a caretaker capacity until there’s a new administration - Politico
Portuguese and German police on Tuesday launched joint searches of a "vast" area in Portugal's southern Algarve region for new evidence related to the 2007 disappearance of three-year-old British child Madeleine McCann. The scale of the searches could be the most extensive since the initial investigation was closed in 2008, a year after Madeleine went missing while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz. Her disappearance sparked a frenzied search and gained the attention of the world's media. She has never been found. Fresh though relatively focused searches were ordered by Portuguese, British and German police of scrubland, wells and reservoirs in 2014, 2020 and 2023. None of these searches were confirmed to have yielded significant evidence. Portugal's investigative Judicial Police (PJ) had said on Monday they would execute search warrants at the behest of the public prosecutor's office in Germany's Braunschweig, which in 2022 formally identified German national Christian Brueckner as an official suspect in the case. The search operation is expected to end on Thursday, a spokesperson for the public prosecutor's office in the northern German city of Braunschweig said. A source involved in the search said the targeted area was "vast" with police using ground-penetrating radar across several hectares. Portuguese officers were following instructions from German police under a European Investigation Order - Reuters
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