Kyiv approves alternative Dnipro crossings after Russian strikes on bridges
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Kyiv City Mayor Vitali Klitschko announced that alternative, temporary river crossings will be created to bridge the Dnipro, after Kyiv's Southern Bridge was struck in a Russian ballistic missile attack in the morning.
"The locations will be determined by the military command and will be coordinated, in particular, by the Kyiv City Military Administration," Klitschko said after a meeting of the city's Capital Defense Council.
Kyiv's Southern Bridge was struck by at least one Russian ballistic missile on the morning of Oct. 27, leaving a large hole in the structure and closing the bridge to both road and rail traffic.
Commuters heading to work from the city's largely residential left bank had to make a half-hour trek across the structure on foot.
The city will provide funding of 1 billion hryvnias (about $22 million) for the project, the mayor said.
The council also discussed "additional technical solutions" for helping protect Kyiv's bridges, issues surrounding the maintenance of bomb shelters, and the installation of mobile shelters, Klitschko said.
Kyiv's bridges have come under repeated drone and missile attack over the past months, while Kyiv's mayor has been heavily criticized for delays in adequate provision of bomb shelters.
Both the Northern and Southern bridges are among Kyiv's main transport arteries, carrying tens of thousands of residents across the Dnipro each day.
The repeated strikes have prompted preparations for pontoon crossings that could be used if key bridges across the Dnipro are damaged or become unusable. The Kyiv City Military Administration also announced new restrictions on movement across Kyiv's bridges during air raid alerts.
