Russia strikes second Kyiv bridge during 3rd straight day of infrastructure attacks

Russian forces launched a strike on the Northern Bridge over the Dnipro River in Kyiv in the morning hours of Oct. 3 as Russia again takes aim at key bridges in the capital for the third straight day.

Explosions were reported in the city shortly after 6:30 a.m. amid reports of drones approaching the capital. Videos posted to social media of the purported attack appear to show a large explosion on the bridge that connects the right bank of the city with the left bank as vehicles pass by.

Mayor Vitali Klitschko said that the bridge's surface as well as trolleybus overhead power lines have been damaged in the attack. Movement over the bridge was halted following the strike.

The Russian strike on the Northern Bridge injured two people, Klitschko said.

The full extent of the damage caused was not immediately clear.

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

Traffic on the Southern Bridge is restricted from the right to the left bank for the first fifteen minutes of an alert. On the Podilsko-Voskresenskyi Bridge, traffic is completely stopped in both directions for the first fifeteen minutes of an alert.

Traffic on the Northern Bridge, Metro Bridge, Darnytskyi Bridge, and Paton Bridge may resume without restrictions.

The latest strike marks follows days Russian attacks on key bridges within the capital. A day prior on Oct. 2, a Russian drone struck the Southern Bridge over the Dnipro River — marking the fourth such drone strike in two days.

Kostiantyn Kryvolap, an aviation expert and former Antonov test engineer, told the Kyiv Independent that destruction of the bridge is most likely not the intent behind Russia's strikes.

"Destroying a bridge with a 50-kilogram explosive charge, even with a highly effective warhead designed to destroy steel bridge structures, is a major exaggeration. It is practically impossible. For a bridge like this, these strikes are more like mosquito bites," he said.

Instead, the idea behind the Russian strikes may rather be to halt traffic, interrupt logistics, and exert psychological pressure on Kyiv's population, according to him.

Both the Northern and Southern bridges serve as some of the capital's main traffic arteries, with tens of thousands of the city's residents passing over the bridges daily.