MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday accused Ukraine of carrying out a terrorist attack on a vital bridge connecting Russia and Crimea as he prepares for a meeting with his Security Council.

"There is no doubt about it. This is a terrorist act aimed at destroying vital civilian infrastructure," Putin said in a video posted on the Kremlin's Telegram channel on Sunday.

"It was prepared, implemented and ordered by the Ukrainian special services."
Security Council Vice President Dmitry Medvedev said before Monday's meeting that Russia should kill the "terrorists" responsible for the attack.

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"Russia, like the rest of the world, can only respond to this crime directly by killing terrorists." "This is what Russian citizens expect," he said, according to state news agency Tass.

The explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge, a major supply route for Moscow's military in southern Ukraine, on Saturday cheered Ukrainian officials but did not claim responsibility.

The bridge is also an important artery to the port of Sevastopol, where Russia's Black Sea fleet is based, and a grand symbol of Russia's annexation of the Crimean peninsula in 2014.

The bridge's damage came amid growing fears of Russia's battlefield defeat, as Putin repeatedly warned the West that any attack on Russia could result in a nuclear reaction.

Putin met on Sunday with the head of Russia's investigative committee, Alexander Bastrykin, who presented the findings of an investigation described as a vehicle explosion and subsequent fire on the bridge.

According to Bastrykin, before reaching the bridge, the vehicle passed through Bulgaria, Georgia, Armenia, North Ossetia and the Krasnodar Territory of Russia. In a video posted to the Kremlin's Telegram channel, Bastrykin said "citizens of Russia and foreign countries" helped Ukrainian special forces in their preparations.

Oleksandr Kovalenko, a military analyst and head of the website Information Resistance, told Espresso TV, a popular digital broadcaster in Ukraine, that Russia may intensify attacks on civilian targets after the Crimean bridge blast.

"It most likely means missile strikes on border areas like Sumy and Chernihiv." "It could also mean using missiles and (Iran-made) Shaheed-136 drones to strike deeper into Ukrainian territory," he said.

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Images showed a portion of the bridge's roadway was blown off, but rail services and some road traffic had resumed.
According to the Russian Ministry of Transport, about 1,500 people and 162 heavy goods have traveled by ferry across the Kerch Strait since the explosion.

Putin celebrates the opening of a 19-km (12-mile) bridge connecting Crimea to Russia in 2018.
On Saturday, Russia's defense ministry said its forces in southern Ukraine could be "fully supplied" via existing land and sea routes.

Regional governor Oleksandr Starukh said early Monday that overnight shelling in Zaporizhzhya destroyed an apartment building, leaving wounded.

It was the third morning strike against the area in four days. At least 13 people were killed and 87 others, including 10 children, were injured in an attack on a city apartment on Sunday, according to Ukrainian officials.

According to Staruk, Russian aircraft fired at least 12 missiles in the attack on Sunday, partially destroying a nine-story apartment building, leveling five other residential buildings and damaging several others.

The wounded included 11 children, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who called the attack "absolutely bad".
"It was a calculated hit." "Whoever ordered and who carried it out knew exactly what they wanted," he said in a video message.

Zaporizhzhya, about 52 km from the Russian-controlled nuclear power plant, has been hit by heavy shelling in recent weeks, killing 19 people on Thursday.

Emergency personnel and firefighters surrounded the nine-story structure and dug for survivors and casualties among the smoldering rubble of a large central section that collapsed after the attack on Sunday.

According to Vladimir Rogov, an official in the Russian-established administration of Zaporizhzhia, Ukrainian forces shelled the city for "propaganda purposes."

Since the start of Russia's invasion in February, much of the Zaporizhzhya region, including the nuclear plant, has been under Russian control. The region's capital, Zaporizhzhya, remains under Ukrainian control.

Also Read: VIDEO: Big explosion in Russia-occupied 'Crimea,' burning train running on bridge

Russia denies intentionally targeting civilians.
The White House declined to comment directly on the bridge blast on Sunday, but said the US would continue to provide weapons to Ukraine.
Kyiv demands that Russian forces leave the Black Sea peninsula, as well as the Ukrainian territory they seized during Putin's February invasion.

Since the start of its counterattack against Russia in late August, Ukraine has recaptured more than 1,170 square kilometres (450 square miles) of land in its southern Kherson region, a military spokesperson said on Sunday.

Ukraine's offensive in the northeast was a resounding success, but its drive in the south to eliminate a Russian foothold on the west bank of the vast Dnipro River has been slower.