KYIV, Ukraine - A Russian airstrike damaged Kyiv’s Northern Bridge across the Dnipro River on Saturday, forcing authorities to suspend traffic from the city’s left bank to the right bank and prolonging a transport crisis caused by repeated attacks on the capital’s crossings.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said the strike damaged the road surface and overhead trolleybus cables. Emergency services were sent to the scene, and public transportation was diverted.
City authorities later said two people were wounded and one was briefly hospitalized. Initial reports had said there were no casualties.
Fourth Road Crossing Affected
The Northern Bridge strike followed repeated attacks on the Southern Bridge. Over the previous two days, the Southern Bridge, Paton Bridge and Metro Bridge had been fully or partly closed before traffic was restored on some routes, according to city officials and news reports.
The latest damage again caused traffic jams and public transport delays in a city divided by the Dnipro. Before Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022, more than one-third of Kyiv’s roughly 3 million residents lived on the eastern, or left, bank, while most jobs, government institutions and major companies were on the western, or right, bank.
Russia Confirms Strike
Russia’s Defense Ministry confirmed carrying out the attack and claimed the bridge was used to move troops and military cargo. That claim could not be independently verified.
Moscow has denied systematically targeting civilians. Ukrainian officials say the attacks on transport and energy infrastructure are part of an intensified air campaign ahead of winter.
The strike represents a new development after the earlier disruption of three of Kyiv’s six road bridges and is being reported separately rather than as an update to that earlier incident.
Sources: Vesti Baku; Reuters; The Associated Press.