Kyiv bridges came under attack again on Saturday after a Russian strike hit the city’s Northern Bridge, blocking traffic between the two banks of the Dnipro River and adding to transport disruption caused by an earlier attack on the Southern Bridge.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the Northern Bridge had been hit after a drone alert in the Ukrainian capital. Emergency services were sent to the scene, he said in a statement posted on Telegram.
Klitschko later said the strike had damaged the road surface and the overhead electrical wires used by trolleybuses. Traffic from the left bank to the right bank was temporarily blocked, further limiting the routes available to people travelling across the city.
The attack came one day after the Southern Bridge was closed following repeated strikes by fast, jet-powered drones. Ukrainian officials said the Southern Bridge had been hit several times since Thursday. Restrictions were also introduced on another crossing, adding further pressure to Kyiv’s already busy road network.
The Dnipro divides Kyiv into eastern and western sides, making its bridges essential for daily travel across the capital. Eight bridges connect the two sides of the city. With two major crossings disrupted within two days, traffic was forced onto fewer available routes.
The impact was quickly visible on Kyiv’s roads. Long lines of cars and buses formed as drivers searched for alternative crossings, while some commuters were forced to leave vehicles and continue parts of their journeys on foot.
Klitschko warned residents on Friday that Kyiv needed to operate on a war footing as the attacks on critical crossings increased pressure on the city’s transport system.
The strikes also mark a significant development for a capital that, while regularly targeted by Russian missiles and drones since the full-scale invasion began in February 2022, has generally experienced less physical destruction than areas closer to the front line in eastern Ukraine.
The latest attacks have brought the war directly into one of Kyiv’s most important pieces of civilian infrastructure. The immediate concern for residents is not only damage to individual bridges, but how long disruptions to the crossings will last and how much additional pressure they will place on the city’s remaining routes.
