Senior Ukrainian officials arrived in Washington on Tuesday to push for increased U.S. support as Ukraine intensified attacks against Russian-controlled infrastructure, including an underwater explosion targeting the strategic bridge linking Russia to Crimea.
The SBU, Ukraine’s security service, claimed responsibility for placing explosives beneath the road-and-rail bridge, a key symbol of Moscow’s occupation since the 2014 annexation of Crimea. While the extent of the damage remains unclear, Russian authorities reported no immediate traffic disruption. The strike coincided with a broader wave of Ukrainian drone and artillery attacks on Russian-held areas in the south, which knocked out power to hundreds of thousands in Zaporizhzhia and Kherson, according to Moscow-installed officials.
The visit by President Zelensky’s chief of staff Andriy Yermak and Deputy Prime Minister Yuliia Svrydenko comes amid stalled peace talks. Yermak said the delegation would advocate for increased defense aid, harsher sanctions on Russia, and U.S. investment in Ukraine’s mineral sector and postwar reconstruction. Russia, for its part, reiterated demands that Ukraine surrender more territory and accept limits on its military—terms Kyiv has flatly rejected.
