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A Russian drone exploded on Kyiv’s Pivnichnyi Northern Bridge early Sunday morning while vehicles were crossing the structure creating a visible crater in the roadway and sending a plume of black smoke skyward according to video footage verified by BBC News. Mayor Vitali Klitschko stated that two people were injured in the attack with emergency services responding promptly to the scene. The latest strike occurred as German Chancellor Friedrich Merz made an unannounced visit to the capital to demonstrate solidarity with Ukraine amid the intensified campaign against its infrastructure. Klitschko added that the assault also damaged a heating main cutting hot water supplies to parts of the Desnianskyi district.
Russian drones had targeted the Pivdennyi Southern Bridge five times on October 1 and 2 damaging supports the road surface guardrails and metro barriers which forced its closure to both vehicular traffic and trains a Meduza report from the capital outlined. The Northern Bridge came under fire for the first time on October 3 when a jet-powered drone damaged the asphalt and overhead trolleybus lines injuring two civilians and halting crossings from the river’s left to right bank according to accounts compiled by The New York Times. Kyiv operates nine bridges across the Dnipro River with six dedicated to road traffic that carry hundreds of thousands of daily commuters between the eastern residential bank and western commercial districts a Politico review of urban logistics noted. Authorities have now restricted five of those bridges prompting widespread detours and gridlock across the three-million-resident city.
Russia’s defence ministry confirmed the strikes asserting that the bridges served as routes for transferring Ukrainian troops and military cargo and vowed to expand attacks on Kyiv in retaliation for actions by Ukrainian leadership. The ministry placed personal responsibility on President Volodymyr Zelensky for the consequences of continued fighting and renewed calls for foreign diplomats to depart the capital. Zelensky countered that Vladimir Putin had directed commanders to disregard international rules governing airstrikes while revealing that Russian forces had unleashed more than 1900 drones along with 1700 aerial bombs and 25 missiles against Ukraine during the past week.
Ukraine’s air force reported intercepting 125 of 135 drones launched by Russia overnight including numerous jet-powered models that travel at speeds difficult for conventional defences to counter BBC News figures show. Aviation expert Kostiantyn Kryvolap told the Kyiv Independent that drones lack the power to fully demolish the massive concrete spans yet sustained pressure could render them structurally unsafe and necessitate extended closures. A separate analysis by Meduza indicated that while complete destruction remains unlikely the attacks have already produced severe transportation bottlenecks and led officials to prepare contingency measures such as ferry services or temporary pontoon bridges.
The bridge campaign marks the first time major Dnipro crossings in Kyiv have faced direct assault since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 shifting focus from energy facilities to urban lifelines that bisect the capital The New York Times observed from the ground. Klitschko warned in social media updates that the enemy is tearing the city apart and that residents could no longer maintain the illusion of normal peacetime routines. The escalation appears tied to recent Ukrainian advances in Donbas which Zelensky described as the trigger for Moscow’s retaliatory focus on civilian infrastructure.
Footage examined in the BBC video Watch: What we know about Russian strikes on Kyiv bridges illustrated the precise moment a drone impacted the Northern Bridge amid moving traffic. Merz toured damaged sites including the National Academy of Sciences during his visit and pledged additional German assistance to bolster Ukrainian air defences and reconstruction efforts according to BBC News coverage of the trip. Ukrainian officials continue to evaluate the bridges for ongoing safety while rerouting public transport to mitigate the daily disruptions affecting hundreds of thousands of commuters.
