Russian strikes have hit a second major bridge across the Dnipro River in Kyiv, Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said, as Moscow concentrates fire on the transport infrastructure that keeps the Ukrainian capital functioning. The attack on the Pivnichnyi, or Northern, bridge in the early hours of Saturday injured two people, damaged the road surface and cut overhead trolleybus power lines, producing traffic jams across the crossing.
Two crossings, one pattern
The strike comes after the Pivdennyi, or Southern, bridge was hit repeatedly by Russian drones earlier in the week. Klitschko has warned that the enemy is tearing Kyiv apart, and after a crisis meeting of the city’s defence council described the situation as very dramatic, saying Moscow was battering critical infrastructure, logistics and housing.
Until Thursday, neither of the two bridges spanning the wide Dnipro had been struck at all. The result is that road, rail and trolleybus links across the river have now been severed in both directions, with restrictions on alternative routes feeding congestion into the city’s roads.
Why drones rather than heavy weapons
Russian officials said the drones had targeted the two bridges because they are used to move Ukrainian troops and military cargo, and again urged foreign citizens, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv. Analysts quoted by the BBC say drones are unlikely to bring the structures down on their own, but repeated strikes force closures and risk weakening the fabric over time.
Some of Kyiv’s crossings are already reported to be in poor condition after decades carrying heavier traffic than they were designed for. Russian president Vladimir Putin has said Moscow is responding to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities, though Russia was the party that launched such attacks first.
Why it matters for Britain
Kyiv is home to roughly three million people, most of whom cross the river daily, and the metro remains the fallback for many. Lawmakers have reportedly discussed contingency plans including ferries and temporary pontoon bridges in case any crossing is destroyed. A sustained campaign against the bridges would not be about battlefield logistics so much as civic disruption in a city of three million, and it raises the prospect of a long-running crisis that outlasts any single news cycle.
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What happens next
The immediate question is structural: engineers will assess whether repeated drone hits have compromised the bridges, and whether they can be reopened to traffic and trolleybus services. Alongside that, officials across the region reported further damage in a weekend of strikes, including injuries in the Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv and Kyiv regions, a fatality on a Liberia-flagged ship at an Odesa port, and a drone attack in Luhansk that killed two, according to the Moscow-installed regional head. Moldova also summoned the Russian ambassador after five drones and missiles crossed its border and exploded near several localities, none of them hit. Repair crews will decide within days whether the crossings reopen, and Kyiv’s defence council is likely to meet again.
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