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The announcement seemed timed to deflect attention from Russian forces who, since Monday, have killed more than three dozen Ukrainians in a barrage of missile strikes on towns and cities.
The Russian president tied the attack to a bombing of the bridge to Crimea, and vowed that more strikes would follow if Russian targets were hit again.
Comments from President Biden last week raised the issue for the first time in decades.
In a Ukrainian village in the southern Kherson region, residents reflect on the occupation, and the aftermath.
At least part of the crossing, the sole bridge linking the Crimean Peninsula with the Russian mainland, collapsed into the sea.