Russia strikes back: 17 killed in Ukraine city following Crimea bridge explosion

A day after an explosion on the Kerch Strait Bridge that connects the Crimean peninsula to mainland Russia, Russian forces struck back with a vengeance, killing at least 17 people with missile strikes in on the south-eastern city of Zaporizhzhia, reported Ukraine's Defence Ministry.

Zaporizhzhia has been repeatedly hit by Moscow in recent weeks, as it unleashes its ire at urban areas after suffering defeats in the south and north-east of Ukraine.

Parts of the Zaporizhzhia region, including its nuclear power plant -- which is the largest in Europe and is around 52km from the city -- have been under Russian control since early in the invasion.

The Ukrainian regional governor in Zaporizhzhia, Oleksandr Starukh, said 12 Russian missiles partially destroyed a nine-storey building, and levelled five other residential buildings.

"There may be more people under the rubble. A rescue operation is under way at the scene. Eight people have already been rescued," he said on Telegram.

Ukrainian President Zelensky called the shelling "merciless strikes on peaceful people again".

"Absolute meanness," he said. "Absolute evil. Savages and terrorists. From the one who gave this order to everyone who fulfilled this order. They will bear responsibility. For sure. Before the law and before people."

The strikes are widely believed to be in retribution for the attack against the strategically vital Kerch Strait Bridge, and are in keeping with a pattern and trajectory of escalation seen in the conflict ever since Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a partial mobilisation of the Russian military and threatened to use so-called 'tactical nuclear weapons' against Ukrainian forces, as a response to Ukraine turning the tide on the battlefield in its favour.

'Too much success'

For Ukraine, there is such a thing as 'too much success.' Russia still possesses a vastly superior long-range strike capability than Ukraine, and thus can strike Ukrainian 'soft-targets' -- civilians and civilian infrastructure like power generation facilities -- and it can do so with relative impunity.

And that is only half of it.

Russia currently possesses the largest nuclear arsenal in the world; moreover, Moscow also controls the largest and most diverse arsenal of so-called 'tactical nuclear weapons' -- low-yield nuclear weapons intended to be used on the battlefield, as opposed to strategic targets (cities).

Ukraine's recent battlefield victories may constitute a turning of the tide of this war -- but it also puts Russia on the backfoot, and makes the use of battlefield nuclear weapons by Moscow a more and more tempting option for Kremlin policymakers to resort to.