Kyiv Says Russian Strikes Hit Southern Bridge Again

Russian strikes hit Kyiv’s Southern Bridge again on Oct. 2, damaging the road and structures protecting its metro line and forcing authorities to suspend traffic across the Dnipro crossing, Ukrainian officials said. A wider overnight missile and drone attack on the capital killed one person and injured two after a 25-storey residential building was damaged, according to local authorities.¹³⁴

Repeated strikes on a major crossing

The latest attack followed a strike near the bridge’s supports on Oct. 1, when cars and a metro train were crossing, Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. An initial assessment identified no major structural harm, allowing the bridge to resume operations before another strike occurred. The BBC reported, citing the mayor, that the latest incident represented the fourth strike on the Southern Bridge in two days.¹³

The Kyiv Independent reported that the most recent attack harmed a support column, a section of roadway, a barrier and the concrete shielding around the metro track. Metro trains, private vehicles and surface public transport were suspended after the attack. The Southern Bridge is one of the capital’s principal transport routes across the Dnipro River, the BBC reported.¹³

Ukrainian and regional reports said authorities shut the Southern and Paton bridges to traffic in each direction and diverted vehicles to alternative routes. Some residents crossed bridges on foot as heavy congestion developed. Restrictions were also imposed on other important Kyiv crossings.¹³⁴

Death and damage in the capital

The overnight assault damaged residential and energy infrastructure in Kyiv, the Kyiv Independent reported. One person was killed and two were injured after damage to a 25-storey residential building, according to the outlet. The BBC also reported one death in a strike on a multi-storey residential building, while the Straits Times reported a fire on its upper floors.¹³⁴

Kyiv officials convened a defence council meeting to discuss the security situation and the continuing strikes. Klitschko said the attacks were intended to cause panic and described the situation as a matter of survival. Kyiv has an estimated population of about three million, according to the BBC.¹

Russia’s TASS news agency reported that traffic across all Kyiv bridges over the Dnipro was being stopped during air-raid alerts. It said restrictions affected the Darnytskyi and Severny bridges, while local authorities closed the Southern, Metro and Paton bridges. TASS also reported severe congestion, sharply higher taxi fares and that some residents had begun leaving the city; those details were not corroborated by the other dossier sources.⁵

Competing accounts of the campaign

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had turned to large-scale attacks and killings after failing to occupy Ukraine. He accused Moscow of seeking to damage bridges, data centres, communications networks, hospitals and educational institutions to drive people out of cities. The claims were reported by the BBC and were not accompanied in the dossier by a Russian response to those specific allegations.¹

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes Russia carried out against Ukraine’s economic infrastructure were retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian refineries and Black Sea vessels. He said attacks on refineries had reduced Russia’s gross domestic product by about 1%. Ukraine says it targets Russian oil infrastructure because the sector helps finance the Kremlin’s war.¹⁴

Russia has attacked Ukrainian energy infrastructure since its full-scale invasion began in 2022, with the intensity increasing during each winter, according to the BBC. The latest Kyiv assault damaged energy as well as residential infrastructure, the Kyiv Independent reported.¹³