Russian strikes close Kyiv bridges and hit Ukrainian infrastructure

Russian drone attacks closed key bridges and disrupted traffic across Kyiv overnight, according to reports published on Oct. 2, while a strike on a high-rise building in the capital killed one person and injured at least two. Russia also reported strikes on a bridge, a power station, the port of Izmail and a cargo vessel.¹²³

Bridge closures divide the capital

Kyiv authorities restricted traffic on several crossings of the Dnipro after the attacks. The Southern Bridge was fully closed, while traffic on the Metro Bridge was restricted in one direction. TASS reported that three bridges had been closed and that the restrictions produced traffic jams. Deutsche Welle said eight bridges connect the capital’s western and eastern banks.¹³

Accounts differed over some closure details. Al Jazeera reported that the Southern and Paton bridges were shut in both directions and that the Metro Bridge was closed toward Kyiv’s right bank. Deutsche Welle and TASS said the Metro Bridge restriction applied toward the river’s left bank. Deutsche Welle also reported that the Southern Bridge had been hit twice in two days, while Al Jazeera said Shahed drones struck it several times.¹²³

Deutsche Welle reported that a Russian strike hit a 25-storey building in southeastern Kyiv’s Darnytskyi district, killing one person and injuring at least two. Al Jazeera said Russia launched more than 100 drones across Ukraine, killing one person, and that at least four people were wounded in six attacked regions. The outlet further said attacks hit a preschool in Kherson, a food shop in Kharkiv and residential blocks in Kramatorsk and Sumy.¹²

Infrastructure and maritime targets

Russia’s Defence Ministry said its forces hit a bridge over the Dnipro, a power station in the Kyiv region, the port of Izmail and a cargo vessel in the Black Sea. Russian accounts described the bridge as a road-and-rail crossing used to deliver military cargo and said the Izmail complex handled military supplies and fuel. Those descriptions of the sites’ military functions were not independently confirmed in the dossier.¹²³

TASS also said the Kievskaya electrical substation served military-industrial facilities in Kyiv and the surrounding region, and that the cargo ship carried military and dual-use goods. These claims came from the Russian account. The reports establish that Russia identified the four sites as targets, but do not provide independent confirmation of their alleged military roles.²³

Ukrainian attacks and sanctions pressure

Ukraine said its forces attacked oil facilities in Russia’s Samara and Volgograd regions. Al Jazeera reported that a Lukoil facility in Volgograd and an oil dispatch station in Samara were hit and that fires broke out at both. Ukrainian drones also targeted industrial infrastructure in Volgograd, where an apartment building was damaged and one person was wounded. Russian authorities said drone debris damaged an enterprise in Tuapse, in the Krasnodar region.¹²

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian operations had also targeted airfields, industrial sites, refineries, a missile and space centre and an ammunition depot in several Russian regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin said the strikes had cost Russia 1 per cent of gross domestic product. Both statements were reported by Deutsche Welle.¹

Zelenskyy linked Russia’s capacity to continue attacks to imported components and called for stronger sanctions. According to Al Jazeera, Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s top foreign policy official, said the bloc was drafting proposals to strengthen enforcement and introduce further measures. The outlet further said US President Donald Trump had approved an extensive package of sanctions aimed at Putin, Russia’s banks, and its defence and energy industries.²