Russia Hits Second Major Bridge in Kyiv — SkimNews
Get the Geopolitics newsletter
Daily geopolitics — wars, elections, sanctions, the diplomatic moves that move markets. Free.
- Russia struck the Pivnichnyi (Northern) Bridge in Kyiv on Saturday morning, injuring two people and damaging the road surface and overhead trolleybus wires, with Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko reporting traffic was blocked from the left to right bank of the Dnipro.
- The Pivnichnyi attack came after the Pivdennyi (Southern) Bridge was hit multiple times by Russian drones earlier in the week — neither bridge had been struck before Thursday, and Klitschko warned 'the enemy is tearing Kyiv apart.'
- Russia said its drones targeted the two bridges because they are used to transfer Ukrainian troops and military cargo, and Moscow again urged foreign citizens and diplomats to leave Kyiv.
- Klitschko called the situation 'very dramatic' after a Friday crisis meeting of Kyiv's defence council, saying Moscow was battering the city's 'critical infrastructure, logistics, housing' and other facilities.
- Experts cited in the article said Russian drones are unlikely to bring the bridges down outright, but repeated hits will force closures and risk weakening structures that are already in poor condition from years of heavier-than-designed traffic.
- Ukrainian lawmakers met recently to set out contingency plans for ferries or temporary pontoon bridges to keep the capital connected if any crossings are destroyed.
- Vladimir Putin told the Valdai foreign policy forum that Russia's strikes on Ukrainian economic targets were a response to Kyiv's attacks on Russian oil refineries and Black Sea ships — even though Moscow had launched such infrastructure strikes first, and admitted Russia had lost about 1% of GDP to Ukraine's refinery campaign.
- Volodymyr Zelensky told the Financial Times that 'the Russians have failed to occupy us. So now they are carrying out massive attacks and mass killings,' adding that Moscow 'wants people to flee their cities.'
Why it matters: The two Kyiv bridges are the primary road, rail, and trolleybus links across the Dnipro River connecting the capital's eastern and western halves, used daily by a population of about three million. Sustained attacks could force permanent closures of already-aging structures — Russia has publicly framed them as military cargo routes it wants severed — and Ukraine is already gaming out pontoon-bridge contingencies.
Ask SkimNews
