The video, which was posted to Telegram and reported by Reuters, appears to be the first time Prigozhin has been on camera since troops under his control marched on Moscow in a brief mutiny, which began on June 23 and ended less than 24 hours later.  

Prigozhin's voice welcomes Wagner troops, though the video was shot at night and only a profile of what appears to be Prigozhin can be seen along with a group of men. 

“Welcome lads. . . . Welcome to Belarusian soil,” he reportedly says in the film, which Reuters could not immediately verify as authentic.   

“We fought honourably,” Prigozhin said. “You have done a great deal for Russia. What is going on at the front is a disgrace that we do not need to get involved in.” 

Wagner troops had been heavily involved in Russia's invasion of Ukraine, including the effort to take the Ukrainian town of Bakhmut. But thousands of those soldiers apparently relinquishing their weapons to Moscow’s military and were given the option to go to Belarus after Prigozhin launched his doomed rebellion against the Kremlin last month.  

He and his forces ultimately halted their advance on Moscow, after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko negotiated a deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.  

At the time, Prigozhin said the mutiny was in response to a contentious relationship with Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of the General Staff Valery Gerasimov and not meant to unseat Putin. 

He was last seen leaving the Russian city of Rostov a day after starting the coup, but much is unknown as to where he is now after Putin called him a traitor. 

Also unclear is what is to become of Wagner’s 25,000 fighters. In the new video, Prigozhin says the fighters should prepare for a “new journey to Africa.” 

“And perhaps we will return to the [special military operation in Ukraine] at some point, when we are sure that we will not be forced to shame ourselves,” Prigozhin said, referring to the war in Ukraine. 

Wagner already has a robust presence in Africa, including in the Central African Republic and Mali, where the group is often hired as a private security contractor to supplement weak armies and eventually gains a foothold in the economy for exploitation. It has also been accused of heinous atrocities against civilians. 

The Biden administration in January designated Wagner as a Transnational Criminal Organization as part of efforts to identify and cut off parts of its global support network. 

Tuberville is holding up approval of senior military officials in protest of a Pentagon policy that reimburses travel costs for service members who must go across state lines to seek an abortion.

The White House and Democrats have slammed Tuberville for the hold, which they say is damaging military readiness. But the Biden administration's public shaming, combined with efforts to directly engage with Tuberville, have so far been fruitless.

The senator said defense officials on Wednesday could not explain how the abortion policy helped military readiness, or define the parameters around when the Pentagon would allow service members or their dependents to receive the procedure.   

“They didn’t explain it very well," he said. "They had no clue about readiness. They had no clue what month they’d do an abortion. We asked them eight or nine months — well they didn’t know.” 

He said he had gone into the meeting with “open mind, to be convinced that this is affecting readiness, and they gave a poor answer – [it’s] affecting recruiting, very poor answer on that.” 

Tuberville since March has held firm on blocking some 300 military promotions over the policy, which was established after the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe v. Wade last year.  

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has called the senator three times — including once in March, once last week, and again on Tuesday — in an effort to get him to loosen his grip. 

Austin explained to Tuberville “that his blanket holds were increasingly harming U.S. military readiness and national security at a critical geopolitical moment,” a Pentagon official told The Hill. 

Tuberville earlier suggested that he could be convinced to drop his hold should the Senate vote on an amendment to curtail the Pentagon policy in its annual defense policy bill, which lawmakers hope to pass before August. 

The House's version of the $886 billion National Defense Authorization Act, which narrowly passed on Friday, included a provision that would end the policy. 

GOP senators have offered up similar proposals for the upper chamber's NDAA — which it will begin to debate this week — but if included, the amendment would hamper the likelihood the bill passes the Democrat-controlled Senate. 

Tuberville was not the only senator who left Wednesday's briefing unmoved. Armed Services ranking member Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) also complained that the Defense officials failed to give data on how abortion access affects enlistment and readiness. 

“Officials from the Department of Defense could not supply that information, which clearly indicates that this policy was entered into for political reasons and not based on the facts, not based on data,” Wicker told reporters. “So I’m very disappointed, though not surprised, at what we are learning today.” 

But Senate Armed Services Chairman Jack Reed (D-R.I) offered a far different take of the briefing, saying that after today “there can be no doubt in my colleagues’ minds about the legality of the Department’s policy. I am even more convinced of the necessity and appropriateness of this policy, which is critical for the health of our military women, men, and their families.” 

He added: “The Defense Department laid out clear, plain facts to the committee. The Department of Justice has examined the Pentagon’s policy and found it to be entirely legal, consistent with 40 years of precedent through both Republican and Democratic administrations."

And Sen. Angus King (I-Maine) told The Hill that the presentation was “very thorough and answered a lot of questions.” 

King noted that only four to five Republican senators attended the briefing.  

Al Weaver contributed.

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) spoke Tuesday but failed to make any progress on breaking the logjam of nearly 300 military promotions being held up by the senator, Tuberville said.

According to a Tuberville spokesperson, the two officials had “another cordial conversation” and spoke about the planned Senate briefing with Defense officials to discuss the Pentagon’s abortion policy that sparked the fight. The policy allows the department to cover travel expenses for military members to seek abortion care.

The Pentagon and Democrats have been trying to move him off the holds.

“Coach looks forward to the briefing and to further discussions to resolve the situation,” the spokesperson added.

Tuberville told reporters at the Capitol, however, that the talks have yet to yield any progress toward a resolution.

“No, not yet,” Tuberville said. “None. … Just cordial [conversations]. Everybody gives their position and then, ‘Well, let’s talk again.’”

A Defense Department official confirmed the call had happened and said Austin "underscored to Sen. Tuberville the mounting disruption the holds were inflicting on military families, who have already sacrificed so much."

"Secretary Austin has also explained to Sen. Tuberville, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, that his blanket holds were increasingly harming U.S. military readiness and national security at a critical geopolitical moment," the official added.

Tuberville said he was hopeful that the annual National Defense Authorization Act could codify a reversal of the Pentagon’s policy after the House included such language in their version last week, which he said he was pleased with. Senate Democrats are not expected to include that provision in the upper chamber’s version of the bill. 

"I like what the House has in [their version]. I just don't know about ours," Tuberville said.

Ellen Mitchell contributed.

The Senate voted 72-25 to invoke cloture on the motion to proceed, the first procedural vote on its version of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), which authorizes a top-line figure of $886 billion and is expected to include a 5 percent pay raise for troops. The proposal also is unlikely to include many of the hot-button items that House Republicans included in the legislation that passed the lower chamber largely along party lines. 

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said he is pleased with the legislation's progress and was especially pleased that both sides have kept poison pill provisions out of the bill in a push to win a robust bipartisan vote. He also argued that the NDAA effort should be a "prime example" of how senators on both sides can "work constructively" to help the nation's defense capabilities. 

"I certainly hope we do not see the kind of controversy that severely hindered the NDAA process over in the House," Schumer said on the Senate floor. "Both sides should defeat potentially toxic amendments and refrain from delaying the NDAA’s passage. So far, we have thankfully avoided all of that."

The Democratic leader noted that senators and their staffs worked throughout the weekend to wrap up the first manager's package that includes 21 GOP and Democratic amendments each, and an additional nine bipartisan amendments. 

He added that both sides are also starting work on a second manager's package. 

The Democratic leader also name checked a couple of amendments he is most pleased will be included in the Senate package, including on artificial intelligence, China's role in the U.S.'s fentanyl crisis and American competition with China. 

The traditionally bipartisan legislation passed the House last week 219-210 with only four members of each party breaking rank. Democrats panned amendments including those to block the Pentagon's new policy that covers travel costs for military members who seek abortions, military diversity programs and surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender troops. 

After the Senate passes its bill, members of both chambers will try to reach a compromise package that is expected to be tilted in the Senate's direction in order to win the required 60 votes to win passage. 

The Ukrainian counteroffensive may be moving at a slower pace than originally expected, but it is “far from a failure,” Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley said Tuesday. 

Kyiv’s counteroffensive began roughly six weeks ago but so far has failed to retake significant territory from the Russians.  

But Milley — who said Ukrainian forces are “preserving their combat power” by not sending in their best soldiers — said the movements have been slowed down by the need to steadily clear mines set by the Russians. 

“This is going to be long, it’s going to be hard, it’s going to be bloody,” Milley warned, but said the effort “is far from a failure, in my view.” 

“That's a different war on paper and real war,” Milley said. “These are real people in real machines that are out there really clearing real minefields and they're really dying. So when that happens, units tend to slow down … in order to survive, in order to get through."

Ahead of the counteroffensive, Russian troops had several months to create an “extensive security zone” against Ukrainian troops, for which they created complex minefields, strung barbed wire and dug trenches, Milley said.  

But the Ukrainians are helped by Russia’s military command structure being thrown into disarray after Wagner Group leader Yevgeny Prigozhin’s failed coup against military leaders.

Wagner Group troops had been heavily involved in Russia’s attempt to take the Ukrainian city of Bakhmut as well as fighting elsewhere in the country. But with thousands of such soldiers apparently relinquishing their weapons to Moscow’s military, it’s unclear how the new command structure will shake out, with Milley calling it “confusing at best.” 

“The morale is low. And now recently because of the Prigozhin mutiny, the command-and-control apparatus at the strategic level is certainly confusing at best, and probably challenging in many, many other ways,” Milley said.  

Milley said the Russians have also suffered “significant” officer casualties. 

Kyiv could also soon get a boost from the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which earlier Tuesday discussed ramping up Ukraine’s ammunition as it met virtually. 

“We also discussed plans to ramp up production at both the national level and the multinational level through the European Union's important initiative to produce more ammunition,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who spoke alongside Milley, told reporters. 

The group was formed to keep Ukraine in constant supply of weapons in the war. But the West is reportedly struggling to keep up with Ukraine’s long-term ammunition needs as the counteroffensive is expected to stretch longer than originally thought.  

After the group’s virtual meeting, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov on Twitter lauded the gathering as demonstrating “unwavering support for Ukraine.” 

The surprise visit marks the veteran diplomat’s first trip to Beijing since before the COVID-19 pandemic, and comes as tensions rise between the U.S. and China amid discussions of sanctions.

Li said in a statement that U.S.-China relations are at the “lowest point since the establishment of diplomatic relations” because “some people in the United States did not meet China halfway.”

“The path of peaceful development that China is pursuing is a blessing for the world, not a disaster for the world," the statement reads. "The US should have a correct strategic judgment. The future of our world will be better only when emerging countries and developed countries live in peace and develop together."

Kissinger, who served under the Nixon administration, was a key envoy in establishing diplomatic relations with China in the early 1970s. The release described him as a “friend of China.”

Li refused to sit down with his American counterpart, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, at a scheduled diplomatic summit in Singapore last month because he is subject to U.S. sanctions. The Chinese government said removing those sanctions would be a prerequisite to any diplomatic talks.

“The U.S. side knows the reason for difficulties in its military-to-military relations with China,” spokesperson Liu Pengyu said last month. 

“It actually imposed unilateral sanctions on China," Liu added. "Such obstacles should be removed before any exchange and cooperation could take place between the two countries."

Kissinger has repeatedly warned of “catastrophic” consequences of a war between the U.S. and China, and urged further cooperation, the statement reads.

“The United States and China should eliminate misunderstandings, coexist peacefully and avoid confrontation,” Kissinger said, according to the statement.

“History and practice have continuously proved that neither the United States nor China can afford to treat the other as an adversary," he added. "If the two countries go to war, it will not lead to any meaningful results for the two peoples."

State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said the Biden administration was aware Kissinger was traveling to China and that Chinese officials brought it up with Secretary of State Antony Blinken while he was in Beijing last month.

But Miller stressed that Kissinger went to China as a private citizen.

“I will say he was there under his own volition, not acting on behalf of the United States government. And I don't have any further updates on this trip,” he said during the department press briefing.

The U.S. and China have traded sanctions in recent months, in part due to China’s support for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Li was sanctioned in 2018 for purchasing military materials from Russia, and a number of Chinese individuals were sanctioned this year due to their involvement in the fentanyl trade.

In turn, China has sanctioned U.S. defense contractors due to their relationships with Taiwan, and even the Reagan Presidential Library over hosting the Taiwanese president earlier this year.

China has also levied sanctions on rare metals used in computer chip production last month, dealing a blow to U.S. tech production.

Laura Kelly contributed to this report, which was updated at 2:18 p.m.

In the vote Thursday, 70 Republicans were in favor of an amendment from Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) to a defense policy bill, which would have prohibited all future security assistance to Ukraine. 

Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas) called the votes “very disturbing” during a Monday interview on Washington Post Live with reporter Leigh Ann Caldwell. 

“I am going to be honest with you, yes, I am very worried,” McCaul said when asked about the Ukraine vote. 

“I personally thought it was irresponsible; I disagree with it,” McCaul added. “But every member is entitled to their own opinion." 

Along with Gaetz’s proposal, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) introduced an amendment that cut $300 million of funding for Ukraine. Greene’s proposal garnered support from 89 House Republicans.  

McCaul said he “can’t think of a worse message to send to Putin” during a crucial point at the war, with Ukraine in the midst of a counteroffensive aiming to claw back Russian occupied areas. 

“If they are not successful in a counteroffensive, I think that’s going to greatly damage the morale of not only the Ukrainians but the will of the American people to support this fight,” McCaul said. 

Although the war has now dragged on for nearly 18 months, support for Ukraine remains fairly strong among the U.S. public. 

According to a recent survey from the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation and Institute, 76 percent of Americans say Ukrainian victory is important to the U.S. and 59 support military aid to the country.  

But the survey also showed a significant gap between Republicans and Democrats. Only half of Republican participants said they support military aid for the country, which is significantly lower than the 75 percent of Democrat participants who said the same.  

Even though about a third of the GOP House caucus supported Gaetz’s proposal, McCaul said he was encouraged by the majority of his party who did not vote for the amendment.  

“The majority of Republicans still voted to support Ukraine, and that’s very significant I think,” McCaul said to Caldwell.  

Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday confirmed that a U.S. soldier being detained by North Korea “willfully and without authorization” crossed the border from South Korea into the pariah state.  

“We're very early in this event, and so there's a lot that that we’re still trying to learn, but what we do know is that one of our service members who was on a tour willfully and without authorization crossed the military demarcation line,” Austin told reporters at the Pentagon. 

The soldier is believed to be in North Korean custody, and U.S. officials are “closely monitoring and investigating the situation and working to notify the soldier's next of kin and engaging to address this incident,” Austin added. 

“I'm absolutely foremost concerned about the welfare of our troop. And so we will remain focused on this,” he said.  

Multiple reports emerged earlier Tuesday that a junior enlisted U.S. soldier crossed into North Korea after facing disciplinary action by the U.S. military. 

Col. Isaac Taylor of U.S. Forces Korea Public Affairs confirmed in a statement that the troop had been on a civilian tour of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a buffer space between North and South Korea, and was not on duty at the time. The soldier broke from the group and crossed the demarcation line, he said. 

Taylor added that the U.S. is working with the Korean People's Army, North Korea's military, to “resolve this incident.” 

The soldier, reportedly identified as Private 2nd Class Travis King, is said to have parents located in the United States. 

Biden press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said later Tuesday that the “primary concern is ascertaining the well-being of this individual” and the White House is looking into the situation and trying to get more information.

Jean-Pierre said she had no calls to read out from President Biden to either North Korea or South Korea, but said the U.S. is “engaging” with Sweden and South Korea on the issue.

House Armed Services Committee ranking member Adam Smith (D-Wash.) told CNN that the incident “creates a significant diplomatic problem” between Pyongyang and Washington. 

“The first step is going to be reestablishing those communications, but if a U.S. soldier is in North Korean custody, we need to do what we can to get him back,” Smith said.  

The crossing of the U.S. soldier into North Korea is likely to further raise tensions between the two countries currently in conflict over the Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons provocations and continued missile launches, as well as America's military footprint in the Indo-Pacific. 

Also on Tuesday, the USS Kentucky, a nuclear-armed submarine, arrived in Busan, South Korea, for a scheduled port visit — the first time such a vessel has been to the country since the 1980s. 

Seoul and Washington in April agreed to periodic visits by U.S. nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea, a response to North Korea’s continued nuclear threat. 

—Updated at 2:26 p.m. Alex Gangitano contributed.

The plan, titled "Mission First," features four pillars: "Ripping Political Agendas Out of Our Military;" "Restoring Military Standards;" "Breaking the Swamp and Promoting Accountability;" and "Turning the Tide Against Biden’s Military Recruitment Crisis." 

The plan takes aim at diversity, equity and inclusion administrators, as well as policies impacting transgender servicemembers. 

"It's a military that has been ordered by civilian officials to pursue political ideology, to pursue social experimentation, to be yet another institution in American life that gets infected with the woke mind virus," DeSantis said speaking at a campaign event in South Carolina. "This is changing the character of the military, it's changing the culture of our services, and it's creating a situation in which great warriors have been driven away and recruiting is at an all time low." 

DeSantis is an Iraq War veteran, having served in the Navy. If elected president, he would be the first president since George H. W. Bush to have served in a combat zone. 

The announcement comes as his campaign appears to be in reset mode after his team confirmed last week they had laid off employees. In a change of media strategy, the governor is set to sit down with CNN’s Jake Tapper later on Tuesday. The interview will mark his first formal interview with a major news organization other than Fox News.

Periodic visits by U.S. nuclear ballistic missile-capable submarines to South Korea were one of several agreements reached by the two countries' presidents in April in response to North Korea's expanding nuclear threat. They also agreed to establish a bilateral Nuclear Consultative Group and expand military exercises.

The USS Kentucky, an Ohio-class submarine, arrived at the South Korean port of Busan on Tuesday afternoon, South Korea's Defense Ministry said. It is the first visit by a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to South Korea since the 1980s, it said.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup called the submarine's visit a demonstration of U.S. resolve in implementing its “extended deterrence” commitment, a pledge by the U.S. to use its full military capabilities, including nuclear weapons, to protect its allies, the ministry said in a statement.

He said the submarine's visit "shows the allies’ overwhelming capability and posture against North Korea."

During the Cold War in the late 1970s, U.S. nuclear-armed ballistic missile submarines made frequent visits to South Korea, sometimes two or three times per month, according to the Federation of American Scientists. It was a period when the U.S. had hundreds of nuclear warheads located in South Korea. But in 1991, the United States withdrew all of its nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula.

North Korea’s nuclear ambitions have taken on a new urgency after it threatened to use nuclear weapons in conflicts with its rivals and conducted about 100 missile tests since the start of last year. Last week, North Korea conducted a second test of a more mobile and powerful intercontinental ballistic missile designed to strike the mainland United States. After observing that launch, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un vowed to further strengthen his country’s nuclear combat capabilities.

Also on Tuesday, South Korean and U.S. officials held the inaugural meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group in Seoul to discuss ways to strengthen deterrence against North Korea's nuclear threats.

“Any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies is unacceptable and will result in the end of that regime," the two countries said in a joint statement after the meeting.

President Joe Biden issued a similar warning after his summit in Washington with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol in April.

"Both sides affirmed that the NCG will play an integral role in discussing and advancing bilateral approaches, including guidelines, to nuclear and strategic planning and responses to (North Korean) aggression,” the statement said.

The consultative body is tasked with sharing information on nuclear and strategic weapons operation plans and joint operations. The U.S. will retain operational control of its nuclear weapons. U.S. officials say the group’s establishment and other steps announced in April were meant to ease South Korean worries about North Korean provocations while keeping Seoul from pursuing its own nuclear program.

Earlier Tuesday, Yoon told a Cabinet meeting that the launching of the consultative group "will serve as an important starting point to establish a powerful, effective (South) Korea-U.S. extended deterrence," and that their alliance has been "upgraded with a new, nuclear-based paradigm.”

The meeting was co-chaired by U.S. National Security Coordinator for Indo-Pacific Affairs Kurt Campbell and South Korean Deputy National Security Director Kim Tae-hyo.

North Korea condemned the Biden-Yoon agreements in April, saying they proved the allies’ extreme hostility toward the North. It threatened to further escalate its nuclear use doctrine in protest.

In a statement Monday, Kim's powerful sister and senior adviser, Kim Yo Jong, warned that U.S. moves to reinforce its extended deterrence commitment to South Korea will make North Korea “go farther away from the negotiating table desired by (the U.S.)" and beef up its own military capability.

“(North Korea) is ready for resolutely countering any acts of violating its sovereignty and territorial integrity,” Kim Yo Jong said. "The U.S. should stop its foolish act of provoking (North Korea) even by imperiling its security.”

The misdirected emails included sensitive information such as diplomatic documents, medical data, maps and photos of installations, identity document information, passwords, tax returns and hotel reservations for senior officers, according to Johannes Zuurbier, a Dutch technologist who discovered the problem in 2013. 

Zuurbier, who manages Mali’s country domain, told the Financial Times that he tried to warn the Pentagon multiple times about the problem, in which email traffic meant for the .MIL domain — which ends all U.S. military email addresses — instead goes to the .ML domain, the country identifier for Mali. 

The Hill has reached out to Zuurbier, but he did not immediately respond to a request for more information.

Asked about the mix-up Monday, Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh said the Defense Department is “aware of these unauthorized disclosures of controlled national security information.” 

She stressed that “none of the leaked emails that were reported came from a [Department of Defense] DOD email address” and instead came from employees’ personal accounts, such as those from Gmail and Yahoo. 

“We always discourage people from using their personal emails. Official work should be done on official channels and under official emails,” Singh said. “That’s something that we've always emphasized.” 

She added that after the leak of hundreds of classified and top-secret documents on the video gamer website Discord earlier this year, the Pentagon “implemented policy and training mechanisms” on the DOD systems.  

As part of that, if an individual mistakenly sends a message from an .MIL email address to an .ML email address, “it will bounce back. So a DOD email address will not be able to send to that email address,” she noted.  

Still, emails meant for Pentagon employees continue to flow to Mali’s domain, according to Zuurbier. He told the Times he has been collecting misdirected emails since January to warn U.S. officials of the issue, and earlier this month sent a letter cautioning: “This risk is real and could be exploited by adversaries of the US.” 

He said he has around 117,000 misdirected messages, including nearly 1,000 that arrived July 12.

The situation is made more urgent Monday as Zuurbier was set to lose control of the .ML domain, which was due to revert to Mali’s government.

The Western Africa nation is an ally with Russia and will now be able to collect the mistakenly sent emails. The country did not respond to the Times's requests for comment.

While most of the emails are spam, some hold information on current U.S. military personnel, contractors and their families, according to Zuurbier.

The Kerch Bridge connecting Russia to the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea once again came under attack early Monday, causing disruptions to a key supply route for Moscow’s military as Ukraine wages a crucial counteroffensive. 

The strike bore similarities to an attack in October, but there were key differences — notably that Ukraine took responsibility this time. 

The previous collapse reportedly occurred when a truck bomb exploded and ignited several fuel tanks in a passing train. Ukraine's minister for digital transformation said Monday's attack was carried out using “naval drones.”

This week's attack was deadly, reportedly killing two parents and injuring their daughter. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised to respond to the “senseless attack,” while Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced that Moscow was pulling out of a deal to allow exports of grain via the Black Sea. 

The United States accused Putin of weaponizing global hunger, while the United Nations said Russia's decision would “strike a blow to people in need everywhere."

Why the Kerch Bridge is important to Russia

This image provided by Maxar Technologies, shows the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait not far from Kerch, Crimea on Monday, July 17, 2023. (Satellite image ©2023 Maxar Technologies via AP)

The Kerch Bridge is important militarily, but also deeply symbolic for Putin, who oversaw the illegal invasion and occupation of Crimea almost a decade ago. 

Putin announced his plans to build the 12-mile, road-and-rail bridge soon after he seized Crimea from Ukraine in 2014, and Putin himself personally inaugurated the bridge when it opened in 2018, driving across in an orange dump truck. 

The bridge is widely disliked by Ukrainians, who view it as a symbol of Russian occupation.

Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, did not explicitly claim responsibility for Monday’s attack, but said it was necessary to take out the bridge. 

“Any illegal structures used to deliver Russian instruments of mass murder are necessarily short-lived,” he said. 

Video of the bridge shows both lanes badly damaged, with at least one section of the bridge nearly falling into the water below. 

Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Marat Khusnullin said Monday that road traffic would resume in one direction by Sept. 15, and that the bridge would be completely repaired by Nov. 1. 

The bridge is a key supply line between Russia and its forces based in Crimea, along with southern provinces such as Kherson and Zaporizhzhia, which are on the front lines of the war. 

Russia has also built a “land bridge” as an alternate crossing, but it is more difficult and dangerous. 

Putin responds to latest attack

Putin claimed the “terrorist act” would not set back Russia's war effort. 

“There will be a response from Russia to the terrorist attack on the Crimean bridge. The Ministry of Defense is preparing relevant proposals,” he said during a meeting with officials.

The bridge is also a key component of many Russians' summer vacation plans, as it provides easy passage to the popular coastal resorts in Crimea — meaning tens of thousands of Russians are now effectively stranded on the peninsula. 

Russia's government said that it will relax border checks along alternative routes in occupied southern Ukraine to help them get home, per the Wall Street Journal. Commercial flights to and from Crimea have been halted following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Naval drones play significant role for Ukraine

In this handout photo taken from video released by Investigative Committee of Russia, investigators work at an automobile link of the Crimean Bridge connecting Russian mainland and Crimean peninsula over the Kerch Strait. (Investigative Committee of Russia via AP)

The use of naval drones in the attack is also significant, as the weapons have been a focus of Ukraine's military in countering Russia's far superior navy. 

In October, 16 of the “kamikaze” naval drones assaulted Russia’s Black Sea fleet, damaging its new flagship. 

Popular Mechanics noted that whichever vessels were used in the bridge attack would have needed to carry a large payload and navigate through Russian patrol boats and helicopters — and may have avoided radar by staying underwater. 

“The reality is that Ukraine is constantly imposing high costs on the Russian Navy by launching small, cheap [unmanned surface vessels] against ships and port facilities,” Samuel Bendett, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said on Twitter. 

“Defending against such attacks means constant state of awareness and high-levels of stress.”

“In response to a number of recent alarming events in the Strait of Hormuz, [Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin] has ordered the deployment of the destroyer USS Thomas Hudner, F-35 fighters and F-16 fighters to the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility to defend U.S. interests and safeguard freedom of navigation in the region,” Pentagon deputy press secretary Sabrina Singh told reporters. 

The U.S. military already has F-16s and A-10 Warthogs in the region – the latter of which has been patrolling there for more than a week after Iranian naval forces on July 5 tried to capture two oil tankers in or near the Gulf of Oman, firing on one of them. 

A defense official first told reporters on Friday that the F-16s were meant to give air cover to the ships traversing through the waterway — a crucial supply route for the world’s oil shipments — and act as a deterrent to Iran. 

Singh said the additional assets were meant to help with Iran's continuing efforts to “engage in destabilizing activity.” 

“In light of this continued threat and in coordination with our partners and allies, the [Defense Department] is increasing our presence and ability to monitor the strait and surrounding waters,” Singh said. 

She also said the Pentagon calls upon Iran “to immediately cease these antagonizing actions that threaten the free flow of commerce.” 

Singh could not say how long the deployment would last, as Austin and his commanders “are always assessing how long assets would be needed in the region.” 

She added that the aircraft were enroute but would not say where the aircraft were being flown from. 

The early July encounters follow successful attempts from Iran to seize oil tankers in the Strait of Hormuz, including a Texas-bound ship in April and another one about a week later. 

The strait, which flows into the Gulf of Oman and is bordered by Iran, is a waterway for which the globe depends on for more than one-fifth of the world's oil supply. 

“You go where you’re told, that’s the way orders work,” Kirby told reporters. “What happens if you get assigned to a state like Alabama, which has a pretty restrictive abortion law in place? And you’re concerned about your reproductive care? What do you do? Do you say no and you get out? Well, some people may decide to do that, and what does that mean? That means we lose talent, important talent.”

“It can have an extremely, extremely significant impact on our recruiting and our retention,” he added. “It’s just the right darn thing to do for people who raise their hand and agree to serve in the military.”

Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) has blocked the Senate from approving more than 250 military promotions in protest of the Defense Department’s policy.

Kirby was asked why the abortion policy is critical to military readiness and responded, “I’m really glad you asked that question. I mean, I really am.”

The spokesman said that he met a couple weeks ago with female military members and female military spouses at the White House.

He said they told him that restrictive abortion laws across the country, which have been passed since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade last year, “are absolutely having an effect on their willingness to continue serving in uniform or to continue to encourage or discourage their spouses from continuing service.”

“If you don’t think there’s going to be a retention and a morale issue, think again because its already having that effect,” he added.

He noted that one in five members of the U.S. military are women and stressed that it is an all-volunteer force. He also acknowledged that he has a son and son-in-law serving in the Navy, stationed in Norfolk, Va.

“When you sign up and you make that contract, you have every right to expect that the organization — in this case, the military — is going to take care of you and they’re going to take care of your family. And make sure that you can serve with dignity and respect no matter who you are or who you love or how you worship or don’t,” he said.

“Our policies, whether they’re diversity, inclusion, and equity or whether they’re about transgender individuals who qualify physically and mentally to serve to be able to do it with dignity,” he added. “Or whether it’s about female servicemembers, one in five, or female family members being able to count on the kinds of health care and reproductive care specifically that they need to serve.”

He said making sure female servicemembers and military families have reproductive care is “a foundational sacred obligation of military leaders.”

Tuberville has claimed the Pentagon’s abortion policy violates the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits using federal funds for abortions. Biden last week lambasted Tuberville’s hold, calling it a “bizarre” position that is “jeopardizing U.S. security.”

When asked on Monday if Biden would sit down with Tuberville, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that is a question for the senator.

“We’re not the problem here, we’re not causing this. This is the senator that’s causing this,” she said.

The House last week voted to adopt an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would reverse the Pentagon’s abortion policy. Only two Republicans — Reps. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and John Duarte (R-Calif.) — opposed that amendment, and Democratic Rep. Henry Cuellar (Texas) voted “yes.”

Such measures are significantly less likely to pass the Democratic-controlled Senate.

“It shouldn't be taxpayer funds giving them three weeks of paid, uncharged leave and then also paying for travel and lodging and meal. Something that we don't even give our troops when they have a parent die or a sibling die, or a beloved grandparent dies,” Cotton told Fox News’s Shannon Bream on “Fox News Sunday.” 

One of the conservative amendments that was included in the House-approved version of NDAA restricts travel expense reimbursements for service members who seek an abortion. The must-pass defense policy bill passed with a largely bipartisan 219-210 vote in the House.    

"What the House has done is taken reasonable steps supported by a large majority of Americans to ensure that we’re funding our troops and the weapons they need to keep our country safe,” Cotton said on Sunday. “Not paying for ... [t]hings that should not be happening in our military.”  

The bill now heads to the Senate, where top Democrats who control the chamber are likely to strip the amendments.

“It is rich to hear these Democrats complaining about a partisan defense bill because this happened when Nancy Pelosi was the Speaker as well. We worked it out. We worked it out every year for over 60 years to pass the defense bill. But it's Joe Biden and Lloyd Austin, the Democrats who are politicizing the military,” Cotton said on Fox, referring to the president and Defense secretary, respectively.