In his final video speech, Zelensky said the long lines of cars crossing the Crimean Bridge leading to the Russian mainland proved the “absolute majority” of Russian citizens had gotten the message. At least 38,000 cars crossed on Tuesday – a record. The mass exodus came after an ammunition dump and an electricity substation near the town of Dzhankoi, a major railway hub, were blown up. Another apparent Ukrainian attack took place outside the regional capital Simferopol, where a Russian air base was destroyed. Zelensky hinted that similar inventive attacks could be expected. He urged Ukrainians living in Crimea and the occupied south to stay away from enemy command posts and logistics bases. “Don’t go near the military objects of the Russian army,” he said. These may also explode because of the “boom”, he added, describing his country’s struggle against the Russian occupiers as a “people’s liberation war”. Millions of Ukrainians were fighting against a “terrorist state,” he added. In its latest intelligence update, the UK Ministry of Defense said Russia’s military leaders are likely to be “increasingly concerned” about the wave of setbacks in Crimea. The defense ministry in Moscow has vowed to tackle what it called local “sabotage”. Six alleged Islamist extremists were arrested on Wednesday, according to the Moscow-appointed head of Crimea, Sergei Aksionov. It was not clear what connection – if any – those arrested had to the recent attacks, which include a strike last week at Saky airport. At approximately 3 a.m. on Wednesday, Russian strategic aircraft bombarded the port of Odessa, launching two long-range missiles. Four people were injured. The rockets set fire to a recreation center in the area and several houses nearby. Archie Bland and Nimo Omer take you to the top stories and what they mean, free every weekday morning Privacy Notice: Newsletters may contain information about charities, online advertising and content sponsored by external parties. For more information, see our Privacy Policy. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and Google’s Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The Kremlin’s initial war objective was to capture Odessa, a Russian-speaking city founded by Catherine the Great, and link up with the Moldavian enclave of Transnistria, where Russian “peacekeeping” troops are based. The plan fell apart when Ukrainian forces stopped efforts to capture the neighboring city of Mykolaiv and sank Russia’s flagship, the Moskva. Since then the amphibious threat to Odessa has been largely neutralized, military analysts believe. There are growing indications that Moscow plans to move ahead next month with a “referendum” on annexing the southern regions of Kherson and Zaporizhzhia. A Ukrainian counteroffensive to recapture the city of Kherson it has held since March has yet to happen. Ahead of the “vote”, Russian soldiers hunt down local community leaders. The latest victim was Svitlana Korotun, mayor of the village of Verkhny Rohchyk. He was kidnapped for refusing to cooperate with the Russians and disappeared, regional officials said. In the occupied southern city of Melitopol, explosions reportedly occurred near a Russian command center. Details were sketchy. The region is at the center of a major partisan insurgency, which has included harsh countermeasures instituted by Russian troops and the so-called “filtering” of entire areas. Writing on Telegram, the exiled mayor of Melitopol, Ivan Fedorov, said a “loud explosion erupted near the enemy’s gorge” in the center of the city. “Let me remind you that this is where one of the administrative offices of the occupiers is located,” he said. He added: “The earth will burn under the conquerors. This unshakable truth is proven every day by our soldiers from the Armed Forces of Ukraine in the south of Ukraine.” Meanwhile, at least two people were killed in the latest shelling in the eastern Donetsk region. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor, said Russian forces had attacked the already damaged towns of Avdiivka and Zaitseve, near territory controlled by Russian separatists.
