A helicopter drops water on the burning tankers on the bridge<\/p>\n
Vladimir Putin is preparing to step up his assault on Ukraine after his bridge to Crimea was\u00a0hit by a huge explosion<\/a>, Western analysts believe.<\/p>\n The Kremlin previously warned any attack on the Kerch Strait would be a red line and trigger \u201cjudgement day\u201d.<\/p>\n The explosion on the 12-mile bridge just before dawn on Saturday killed three people and cut a crucial supply line for Russian forces fighting on Ukraine\u2019s southern front.<\/p>\n By Saturday evening the Kremlin had only said that it would bolster its defences around the bridge although Russian officials said they expected an aggressive response. Putin convened an emergency meeting of his cabinet on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n \u201cThis was a declaration of war without rules,\u201d said Alexander Bashkin, a Russian senator, adding the Kremlin response will be: \u201cadequate, conscious and, possibly, asymmetric\u201d.<\/p>\n Amidst the chaos, Russia made a panicked announcement,\u00a0unveiling Sergei Surovikin<\/a>, a general known for his brutality in Syria, as the new commander in charge of the \u201cspecial military operation\u201d in Ukraine.<\/p>\n Russian investigators said that the blast had been caused by a truck exploding but stopped short of accusing Ukrainian forces.<\/p>\n Kyiv has not claimed responsibility for the explosion but in the aftermath, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky said this was \u201cjust the beginning\u201d, adding: \u201cEverything that is stolen must be returned to Ukraine.\u201d<\/p>\n The Ukrainian security service meanwhile remarked \u201cthe bridge burns beautifully\u201d, after a\u00a0new set of stamps<\/a>\u00a0celebrating the destruction of the Crimea Bridge was unveiled by the Ukrainian postal service shortly after the blast.<\/p>\n