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Vladimir Putin has called the attack on the Crimea bridge a "terrorist act" carried out by the Ukrainian secret service, paving the way for an escalation in the Kremlin’s response.
Putin made his first comments about Saturday’s explosion in an unscheduled 33-second video address late on Sunday night.
"There is no doubt. This is an act of terrorism aimed at destroying critically important civilian infrastructure," the Russian president said in the broadcast, published on the Kremlin’s Telegram channel.
Putin is set to discuss how Russia will retaliate in an emergency meeting with his security council today.
Three loud blasts were heard in central Kyiv early this morning, with air raid sirens sounding in the Ukrainian capital more than an hour before the blasts. Our live blog will keep you up to speed.
Here are the four ways Ukraine could have taken down the Crimean bridge.
The Telegraph View is that Putin’s nuclear threats must be met with a truly global response.
Meanwhile, it has emerged that a wheelchair-bound Russian man with spinal muscular atrophy has been ordered to mobilise for the war in Ukraine amid the chaos of Moscow’s military draft.
Putin’s forces have lost roughly 80,000 men since the war began, and the mobilisation process has humiliated the Kremlin instead of generating a new supply of soldiers for the front line.
Moreover, the world has adapted quickly to Putin’s energy war.
Ambrose Evans-Pritchard analyses how Liz Truss may be winning her gamble on the energy price cap after all.
Liz Truss is ready to listen to Conservative critics who oppose proposals to increase benefit payments by less than inflation, sources suggested on Sunday night. The Prime Minister is facing a growing rebellion over benefit cuts amid speculation that she is preparing to cave in to pressure from her Cabinet to increase welfare payments in line with inflation. It comes as a prominent backer of Rishi Sunak is set to be handed a key job in an olive branch to backbench critics who claim she favoured her own supporters in forming her government. Greg Hands will be appointed as a trade minister, replacing Conor Burns, who was sacked on Friday over an allegation of misconduct. Meanwhile, the Chancellor is considering bringing forward his "medium term fiscal plan" and the accompanying OBR forecasts, as a new poll will suggest today that Tory voters will desert Ms Truss in droves if house prices plummet. Nick Timothy says the Tories must end this reckless experiment or face electoral disaster.
An academic is preparing to sue the makers of a new film about Richard III, insisting he had never mocked the king’s curvature of the spine. Richard Taylor was a member of the University of Leicester team behind the excavation of the king’s skull from a council car park in 2012. The Lost King, released on Friday, tells what is billed as "the remarkable true story" of Philippa Langley, a member of the Richard III society and the driving force behind the quest to dig up the remains of the last Plantagenet king. Mr Taylor, the university’s former deputy registrar, said he felt "shell-shocked" about the way he was portrayed in the film, co-written and co-starring Steve Coogan, who criticised the university.
Matt joked about the energy crisis in his latest cartoon from the weekend. Cartoonist Blower looks at the real opposition to Liz Truss.
Sturgeon ‘detests’ Tories | Nicola Sturgeon did not regret saying she "detests" the Tories after being accused of using "really dangerous" language and insulting more than 600,000 Scottish Conservative voters. The First Minister insisted she was referring to Tory "policies and values" rather than individual politicians or voters after her comments sparked controversy. Meanwhile, Liz Truss forced the Department for Education into an embarrassing climbdown over China policy when it issued a surprise statement backing the contoversial Confucius Institutes.
A five-year-old girl buying a birthday cake with her father was among the 10 people named as victims of a devastating explosion at a petrol station in Ireland. Police are investigating after a blast tore through the Applegreen service station and shop in Creeslough, County Donegal, on Friday. Robert Garwe, 50, and daughter Shauna Flanagan Garwe had gone into the shop to buy the cake for her mother, according to local media reports, as tragic details from the incident continued to emerge on Sunday. The other eight people who died were named by police.
Arsenal and Liverpool are facing a Football Association investigation after a furious exchange of words between the two sets of players in the second half of the hosts’ thrilling 3-2 win at the Emirates Stadium. Mikel Arteta and Jurgen Klopp were both spoken to by referee Michael Oliver following the incident in the second half, and it is understood that the two managers had another conversation with Oliver after the match. A number of players were involved in the heated argument on the pitch. Meanwhile, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was finally crowned world champion for a second time at Suzuka, but only after an utterly bizarre finish to a rain-drenched, shortened Japanese Grand Prix. Tom Cary analyses how Mad Max cemented his status as F1’s unstoppable force.
Sweeping new rules designed to prevent a repeat of the BHS pensions scandal will cost businesses £30bn and push hundreds of companies to the brink of collapse, the Government has been warned. The industry consultant LCP said that proposals meant to make final salary pensions safer will tip swathes of the private sector into chaos by forcing employers to pump billions of pounds into underfunded retirement schemes. It warned that the plans ultimately raise the risk of 200 businesses going bust. From ‘shadow banking’ to pensions, another crisis is never far away. Helen Cahill, Simon Foy and Patrick Mulholland lay bare the race to defuse the time bombs lurking in the financial sector.
Sicily’s tourist hotspots cling to the island’s Mediterranean coastline, of which there is some 600 miles. First-time visitors will typically head to the thronging food markets and Arab-Norman architecture of the capital city, Syracuse’s classical temples or Taormina’s aquamarine waters. But to see the real Sicily, you must head for the hills – as our guide explains.
Sri Lankan fish curry | A recipe for a delightful curry with hints of sweet and sour that can be on the table in 15 minutes.
Lady Chatterley’s Lover | A tastefully erotic new film adaptation of DH Lawrence’s novel, released in cinemas next month, has plenty going for it, but Tim Robey suggests the chemistry between its stars Emma Corrin and Jack O’Connell is not quite there.
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