Russia targets Kyiv bridges for fourth consecutive day, hits Northern Bridge
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Russia struck the roadway of Kyiv’s Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River with a drone on the morning of Oct. 4, Mayor Vitali Klitschko said.
The attack marked the fourth consecutive day that Russian forces targeted bridges across the Dnipro River in the capital.
"This morning, the Russians once again struck Kyiv's Northern Bridge with a drone," President Volodymyr Zelensky said. "Just this week, Russia has used more than 1,900 attack drones, 1,700 aerial bombs, and 25 missiles against Ukraine. More than 800 of the drones were jet-powered."
Klitschko said emergency services were sent to the Northern Bridge after the roadway was hit. He later said a heating main was also damaged in the Russian attack, temporarily cutting hot water to parts of Kyiv's Desnianskyi district.
The full extent of the damage caused was not immediately clear.
From Oct. 1 to Oct. 3, Kyiv's Southern and Northern bridges were targeted in multiple Russian drone strikes amid an intensifying campaign against infrastructure in the capital.
Kostiantyn Kryvolap, an aviation expert and former Antonov test engineer, told the Kyiv Independent that destroying the bridges was unlikely to be the primary objective of the attacks.
"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," Kryvolap said. "For a bridge like this, these strikes are more like mosquito bites."
Instead, the strikes may be intended to disrupt traffic and logistics and exert psychological pressure on Kyiv residents, according to Kryvolap.
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 (KMDA) also announced new restrictions on movement across Kyiv's bridges during air raid alerts.
