Russian drones strike Kyiv bridge and disrupt three Dnipro crossings

Russian drones struck the Southern Bridge in central Kyiv on Oct 1, damaging bridge and metro infrastructure and interrupting road and public transport across the Dnipro, according to Ukrainian officials and news reports. Preliminary municipal checks found no critical structural damage, although further inspections continued.¹²⁶⁷

A train on the bridge

Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said preliminary information indicated damage to a bridge support, a barrier, the road surface and the concrete structure protecting the metro. Interfax-Ukraine reported that two unmanned aircraft hit near the bridge’s support structure, after which metro and ground transport across the crossing were halted. The type of drone used had not been established.¹²⁶

A metro train was crossing when the attack occurred. According to the Kyiv City State Administration, the explosion pushed dust into the train via its ventilation system at about 11:30, though the driver and passengers escaped injury and the carriage sustained no damage. Video of a smoky carriage and footage of the strike circulated on social media, Interfax-Ukraine reported.³⁶⁷

Green Line services were divided into two sections while metro structures underwent inspection. Buses 22 and 91 were initially diverted over the Darnytskyi railway bridge, then returned to their usual routes across the Pivdennyi bridge after a preliminary inspection found no critical structural damage. Metro inspections continued after bus service resumed.⁶⁷

Restrictions spread to other crossings

Three bridges in Kyiv were closed or had access limited following further attacks on Oct 2, the Associated Press reported. The Southern Bridge was fully closed, while traffic was restricted on the Paton Bridge and Metro Bridge and public transport routes were altered. Meduza reported that the Southern Bridge was attacked three times over several hours and described the strikes as the first Russian drone attacks on Kyiv’s bridges since the full-scale invasion began.³⁴

The Southern Bridge is among the principal routes across the Dnipro between western and eastern Kyiv, according to the BBC. The Associated Press characterised the bridge attacks as part of a wider effort to impede movement and everyday activity in the capital. The BBC reported that a combined attack of this size had not occurred since the end of spring.¹⁴

Wider attacks on Kyiv and Ukraine

The bridge strikes occurred amid continuing Russian drone attacks on Kyiv. Meduza reported that a separate strike on Oct 2 damaged a 25-storey apartment building in the city’s Darnytskyi district, killing one person and injuring at least two. France 24 also reported attacks on a school and apartment buildings in Kyiv that killed at least one person.³⁵

Meduza reported that two people were killed and several more wounded on Sep 28 when a Russian drone hit the premises of the leadership of Ukraine’s National Academy of Sciences. According to Meduza, those wounded included Volodymyr Horbulin, who previously served as secretary of the National Security and Defense Council. Meduza reported that a subsequent drone hit the site of Kyiv’s Institute for Nuclear Research, where the resulting fire was quickly put out; there were no injuries, the reactor sustained no damage and radiation levels stayed within the normal range.³

The Kyiv Independent reported that Russia had intensified drone attacks on the capital since late August and was increasingly using faster, jet-powered aircraft around the clock, which existing Ukrainian defences found harder to intercept. The BBC reported that at least 3,177 jet-powered drones were launched during September. A new jet-powered design has a 40kg warhead and is intended to attack high-voltage pylons and iron bridge structures, according to Ukrainian presidential technology adviser Serhiy Beskrestnov.¹²

The Kyiv Independent reported that strikes by Russia across Ukraine during the night of Oct 1 left at least six people dead and 38 wounded. France 24 reported on Oct 2 that Ukraine had launched a drone attack against industrial facilities in Volgograd.²⁵