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Russia Promises 'Devastating Revenge' if Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
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Russia Promises 'Devastating Revenge' if Ukraine Attacks Crimean Bridge

A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko
A Ukrainian serviceman of the 28th Separate Mechanised Brigade with the call sign 'Sokil' (Falcon) and his brother-in-arms prepare an FPV (first person view) drone for a test flight at a training ground, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Donetsk Region, Ukraine May 3, 2024. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

Russia warned on Friday it would launch a "devastating revenge strike" if Ukraine, backed by the West, strikes Crimea or the Crimean Bridge which links southern Russia to the Black Sea peninsula and has been targeted by Kyiv twice before.
Moscow said it believed that Ukraine, which has recently taken delivery of long-range ATACM guided missile systems from the United States, was plotting to attack the bridge ahead of or on May 9, the day when Russia marks the Soviet Union's World War Two victory over Nazi Germany.
Russia seized and annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Kyiv has repeatedly said it deems as illegal the construction of the road and rail bridge, which has been used in the past to move troops and weaponry. Ukraine says it wants Crimea back.
Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, listed statements and social media posts by officials from Ukraine and European Union member states that she said suggested the bridge was in Kyiv's sights, Reuters reported.
Ukraine's UN Ambassador Sergiy Kyslytsya on May 1 posted on X what he called a "2024 list of 6 Main Types of Bridges" with a set of images.
The final image, labelled "Kerch", the name of the Crimean town at one end of the Crimean Bridge, was left blank, perhaps suggesting it would be destroyed.
Some East European diplomats and officials have posted similar content.
"The Crimean Bridge is once again in the crosshairs," Zakharova told a news briefing.
"Preparations for an attack on it, which is hard to believe, are now being carried out openly, with ostentatious bravado and with the absolute direct and shameless support of the collective West.
"I would like to warn Washington and Brussels that any aggressive actions against Crimea are not only doomed to fail, but will also be met with a devastating revenge strike," she said.
Zakharova noted that British Foreign Secretary David Cameron said on Thursday that Ukraine had the right to use weapons supplied by Britain to hit targets inside Russia, something she said was proof the West was waging a hybrid war against Moscow.
Crimea was part of the Russian Empire and later of the Russian Soviet Socialist Republic from 1783 till 1954 when Moscow gifted it to what was then the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, when both were part of the Soviet Union.
Moscow now says that decision was a mistake.

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World

Israel Says Iran’s New Supreme Leader a ‘Tyrant’ Who Will Continue ‘Regime’s Brutality’

A person holds a picture of the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a gathering in support of him in Tehran, Iran, 09 March 2026. (EPA)
A person holds a picture of the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a gathering in support of him in Tehran, Iran, 09 March 2026. (EPA)
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Israel Says Iran’s New Supreme Leader a ‘Tyrant’ Who Will Continue ‘Regime’s Brutality’

A person holds a picture of the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a gathering in support of him in Tehran, Iran, 09 March 2026. (EPA)
A person holds a picture of the new Iranian Supreme Leader Mojtaba Khamenei during a gathering in support of him in Tehran, Iran, 09 March 2026. (EPA)

Israel's foreign ministry said Monday that Iran's new supreme leader Mojtaba Khamenei was a "tyrant" like his slain father, and would continue what it described as the Iranian "regime's brutality". 

In a post on X featuring a picture of Mojtaba Khamenei and his father Ali Khamenei, holding guns, the ministry wrote: "Mojtaba Khamenei. Like Father Like Son". 

"Mojtaba Khamenei's hands are already stained with the bloodshed that defined his father's rule. Another tyrant to continue the Iranian regime's brutality," the ministry said, in Israel's first reaction to Mojtaba Khamenei's selection as supreme leader following the killing of his father on February 28 in Israeli strikes. 

Earlier, Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon said Mojtaba Khamenei has the same radical ideas as in the past and Israel will target anyone who promotes radical ideas against it.

"Changing the man at the top does not change the regime," Danon told reporters at the United Nations when asked about Iran's naming of Khamenei to replace his ‌father.

"The new leader, unfortunately, is more of the same ideology, the same radical ideas, and ... anyone who will promote those radical ideas against us, we will target them, we will ⁠find them," Danon said.

He said the ‌people of Iran ‌should rise up to choose their next leader and added: "We ‌will have to create the conditions for them, ‌and that is what we are doing now."

Asked about the threat to crucial energy traffic in the Strait of Hormuz and Iran's attacks against neighboring countries, Danon ‌said Israel and the US were hunting Iran's missile launchers and degrading its ⁠capabilities.

"So it's ⁠going to be harder for them to attack vessels in the Strait of Hormuz. It doesn't mean it will be 100% guaranteed, but it will be harder for them to do that.

"So I'm optimistic about that. Every day we see the numbers of attacks, going down," Danon said.

The war has effectively shut the Strait of Hormuz, where a fifth of global oil and liquefied natural gas is shipped along Iran's coast.

World

Türkiye Says NATO Defenses Shot Down Second Incoming Iranian Missile

This handout photograph taken and released on March 9, 2026, by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows part of a second Iranian ballistic missile destroyed by NATO in Turkish airspace. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on March 9, 2026, by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows part of a second Iranian ballistic missile destroyed by NATO in Turkish airspace. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
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Türkiye Says NATO Defenses Shot Down Second Incoming Iranian Missile

This handout photograph taken and released on March 9, 2026, by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows part of a second Iranian ballistic missile destroyed by NATO in Turkish airspace. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)
This handout photograph taken and released on March 9, 2026, by Turkish news agency DHA (Demiroren News Agency) shows part of a second Iranian ballistic missile destroyed by NATO in Turkish airspace. (Photo by Handout / DHA (Demiroren News Agency) / AFP)

Türkiye said on Monday that NATO air defenses shot down a second Iranian ballistic missile that had entered its airspace and warned that it would move against any such threats, which increasingly pose a test for Ankara and the alliance.

The incident in southern Türkiye marks the second intercepted missile from Iran in the last week.

Türkiye, NATO's second-largest army and Iran's neighbor, had warned Tehran on Saturday against attacking again, but it has not suggested it wants to formally call on bloc members for further protection.

A NATO spokesperson confirmed that the alliance had intercepted a missile heading to Türkiye, and that it stood firm in its readiness to defend allies.

Unlike last ‌week's incoming ‌missile, which was downed outside Türkiye, the latest missile entered Turkish airspace. ‌Its fragments ⁠fell in a ⁠region sitting between a critical airbase to the west and a radar base to the east, both of which are used by the United States and NATO.

"We once again emphasize that all necessary measures will be taken decisively and without hesitation against any threat directed at our country's territory and airspace," the Turkish Defense Ministry said, adding there had been no casualties in the incident.

"We also reiterate that it is in everyone's interest to heed Türkiye’s warnings in this regard," it said.

President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Türkiye had delivered the necessary warnings ⁠to Iran after the missile incident.

"Iran continues to take wrong and ‌provocative steps," Erdogan said after a cabinet meeting in Ankara.

He ‌said that Türkiye would continue to take additional measures after deploying six F-16 fighter jets to northern Cyprus earlier on ‌Monday, adding that Türkiye’s main goal was to keep the country out of the "blaze" of ‌the Iran war.

RELIANCE ON NATO DEFENSES

Türkiye, an emerging leader in the global defense industry, lacks its own fully fledged air defenses despite development efforts, and has relied on NATO air defenses stationed in the eastern Mediterranean Sea in both incidents in the last week.

Türkiye did not immediately comment on any formal steps within NATO. It had previously said ‌it had no intention of invoking the bloc's Article 4 that would call allies to consult if a member is threatened. That could lead ⁠to Article 5, which ⁠would call NATO to defend its attacked ally.

Erdogan's office said Ankara was strongly reiterating its warning to all parties, namely Iran, to avoid endangering regional stability and civilians.

It was unclear where the missile was headed.

US air forces are stationed at Türkiye’s Incirlik base, and there is a NATO radar base in Malatya province to the northeast that provides vital protection for the alliance.

Ankara said the missile debris fell in empty fields in Gaziantep, which sits roughly between the two.

The US embassy in Türkiye ordered non-emergency government employees and families to leave its southern Adana consulate, where service was suspended, and it strongly encouraged Americans to leave southeast Türkiye.

Ankara says that Washington has not used Incirlik in its air assault, alongside Israel, on Iran, which triggered Tehran's missile and drone attacks.

Iran did not immediately comment on the incident, but it has said repeatedly that it is not at war with regional countries and is not explicitly targeting Türkiye.

Türkiye had sought to mediate US-Iran talks before the air war that began 10 days ago.

World

Russia Ready to Supply Energy to Europe if It Asks, Putin Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address to congratulate Russia's women on International Women's Day at the Kremlin in Moscow, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address to congratulate Russia's women on International Women's Day at the Kremlin in Moscow, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
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Russia Ready to Supply Energy to Europe if It Asks, Putin Says

Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address to congratulate Russia's women on International Women's Day at the Kremlin in Moscow, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin delivers a video address to congratulate Russia's women on International Women's Day at the Kremlin in Moscow, Sunday, March 8, 2026. (Gavriil Grigorov/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

Russia would supply oil and gas to European buyers, provided such cooperation was "long-term" and did not put political pressure on Moscow, President Vladimir Putin said Monday.

Oil prices have skyrocketed since the United States and Israel began striking Iran on February 28, trading above $100 this week for the first time since Russia launched its Ukraine offensive in 2022.

In a televised meeting, Putin said Moscow would continue to supply oil to "reliable" partners in Asia, as well as EU members Hungary and Slovakia.

"If European companies and European buyers suddenly decide to reorient themselves and provide us with long-term, sustainable cooperation, devoid of political pressures, free from political pressures, then go ahead. We've never refused," Putin said.

"We're ready to work with Europeans, but we need some signals from them that they're ready and willing to work with us and will ensure this sustainability and stability," he added.

The European Union banned maritime imports of Russian crude in 2022, while Russia's pipeline exports to Hungary and Slovakia have been effectively halted since January due to damage to the Druzhba oil pipeline via Ukraine.

Putin's comments came hours after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban urged the European Union to suspend sanctions on Russian oil and gas to counter prices sent soaring by the war in the Middle East.