Pontoon crossings coming to Kyiv following Russian strikes on key bridges, media reports

Following Russian attacks on vital bridges in central Kyiv, the capital plans to construct pontoon crossings across the Dnipro River, Ukrainian media reported on Oct. 3.

"Urgent solutions are a dam and a pontoon crossing, which are being built quickly," Ukraine's Reconstruction, Infrastructure, and Transport Minister, Mykola Kalashnyk, told Suspilny news about responding to the bridge attacks. "This work has already begun. A corresponding coordination meeting was held with the president."

From Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, Kyiv's Southern and Northern bridges over the Dnipro River were targeted in multiple Russian drone strikes amid Moscow's unrelenting attacks on the civilian infrastructure across Ukraine. This week alone, the capital had 56 air raid sirens, lasting over 87 hours in total, emergency services said on Oct. 2.

Kalashnyk said that the construction of pontoon crossings could take up to three months and would help traffic move through the capital, which remains heavily restricted after the bridge attacks.

The Kyiv City Military Administration (KMDA) announced new restrictions on movements over Kyiv's bridges during air raid alerts on Oct. 3.

"On average, about 600,000 cars cross the left and right banks [of the Dnipro] during the day and the task is to maintain this throughput," Kalashnyk said. "Therefore, the locations where construction will begin have been determined accordingly."

Kalashnyk also revealed that plans for constructing underground tunnels beneath the Dnipro were being considered, though construction could "cost tens of billions of hryvnias."

Before constructing alternative crossings, Kalashnyk said that protecting the capital's existing bridges should remain the priority.

"Our first task is to provide protection from the sky, which we are doing in coordination with the military," Kalashnyk said. "The first step is to prevent strikes. The second part is to provide protection. The third is rapid recovery. And the fourth is to make decisions regarding alternative reserve crossings, i.e., the construction of new alternative bridge infrastructure facilities."

To counter Russia's growing use of jet-powered attack drones, Ukraine will be able to produce up to 400 interceptor drones by the end of October, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in an interview with the Financial Times published on Oct. 2.