The War Zone:  Russian missiles struck 10 Ukrainian cities today, including the capital Kyiv, in what President Vladimir Putin said was revenge for the weekend explosion that heavily damaged the bridge to Crimea.

  At least nine people were killed all across the country as at least 81 missiles rained down, knocking out power and other key services. Putin threatened more attacks if Ukraine strikes inside Russian borders again.

   Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Putin is trying to wipe his country “off the face of the earth.”

  Russian missiles yesterday killed civilians in the city of  Zaporizhzhia and also hit the center of Kharkiv, where no one was seriously hurt.

  Putin, who is unapologetic about invading and destroying a quarter of Ukraine, claimed victimhood in the bridge attack, saying, “There is no doubt that this is a terrorist attack aimed at destroying the critically important civilian infrastructure of the Russian Federation.” 

  Ukraine has not claimed responsibility. 

  The bridge attack on Saturday, possibly a truck bomb, collapsed two vehicle lanes and damaged the rail line. Russians say the rail line can be quickly put back in service, but in the near term they’ve suffered a military embarrassment and are hampered from supplying troops at the front and.

  One senior politician said anything less than an “extremely harsh” response would show weakness. Some news commentators called for the destruction of Ukrainian electricity and transportation infrastructure.

  As the Ukrainians continue to take back territory, Putin made a back handed admission of his losses, telling a group of teachers, “We are working on the assumption that the situation in the new territories will stabilize.” 

  Even so, a senior Ukrainian military official, speaking anonymously to the NY Times, said, “The operation showed the failure of the Russian system to guarantee the security even of the most significant and sacred targets.” He said, “The bridge is an artificial umbilical cord that connects the thief to his stolen property. All that is unnatural and obtained illegally must be and will be destroyed.”

Econ 101: The Nobel Prize in economics was awarded today to former Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke and two other American economists, for their work on banks and financial crises.

  Bernanke, who led the Fed during the 2008 global financial crisis, was awarded for his research on the Great Depression, finding that loss of faith in the banks was largely responsible for the severity and length of the Depression.

Trumped Up: President Trump yesterday campaigned for candidates in Arizona who deny the legitimacy of the 2020 election.

  One of the candidates is Mark Finchem, a county sheriff running for secretary of state, who told the crowd; “We’re engaged in an epic fight, a fight that was prophesied, we fight the far left radical fringe, we fight against a godless agenda that seeks to destroy out Judeo-Christian ethic favoring the satanic destruction of our families our communities our children our churches and ultimately our united Judeo-Christian culture.”

The Scrimmage Line: The backup quarterback for the Miami Dolphins standing in for the twice-concussed Tua Tagovailoa, hit his head on the field yesterday and was removed from the game, leaving the third-string rookie to finish.

  The decision to take QB Teddy Bridgewater out of the game was in accordance with new concussion rules made after Tagovailoa hit his head twice in five days. He’s still recovering.

  The new rules prohibit a player from returning to play if he’s having trouble with walking and balance as  Tagovailoa did after his first injury. Under the previous protocol, a player with “gross motor instability” could return to play if doctors decided there was an orthopedic reason for his unsteadiness.

  And that’s what they did with Tagovailoa, claiming his imbalance was the result of a back injury. That begs the question of why two doctors on the Dolphin sidelines would put a player back in the game with a back injury so serious he’s stumbling. The reason: the team will do anything to win.

Dear Vladimir: Ukraine’s postal service is cranking out a new stamp commemorating and praising the explosion that blew up Russia’s bridge to Crimea. It’s not the first time they have made a stamp to pump up national morale and raise money. 

  They made a stamp marking the sinking of a Russian warship in the Black Sea with the caption, “Russian warship — done!” 

  After the first day of the war, the postal service issued a stamp honoring the response of a soldier on Snake Island in the Black Sea who defiantly answered an ultimatum from a Russian warship with an obscenity. 

The Spin Rack: The California sex crimes trial begins today for disgraced and imprisoned former movie producer Harvey Weinstein. He still has 21 years to serve for rape and sexual assault in New York, but he has a chance to overturn that on appeal. The California case could slam the door on him for good. — Landslides caused by heavy rains killed at least 22 people and left 52 missing in a single town in north-central Venezuela. — Two men were shot outside the home of New York’s Republican candidate for governor, Lee Zeldin, a classic anti-crime Republican, was not home at the time but his two daughters were there doing their homework. “I’m standing in front of crime scene tape in front of my own house,” he said, “You can’t get me more outraged than I am right now.”  — Runner Emily Sisson finished second in the Chicago marathon setting a record for an American woman with a time of 2:18:29. Ruth Chepngetich  of Kenya, won the women’s event, finishing at 2:14:18. 

Holiday: Today is Columbus Day or Indigenous People’s Day depending upon your politics.