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Russian drones attacked Kyiv’s Southern Bridge on October 1 and 2, then the Northern Bridge on October 3, damaging infrastructure and injuring two people, Meduza reported. The Southern Bridge is closed to cars and metro trains, while the Northern Bridge is partly closed. Ukrainian experts cited by Meduza say drones alone cannot destroy the bridges, but repeated strikes could make them unsafe and disrupt transport.
Russian forces have attacked Kyiv’s Southern and Northern bridges over the Dnipro River in recent days, damaging road and bridge infrastructure and disrupting movement through the capital, according to a report published by Meduza on October 4. The Southern Bridge is closed to cars and metro trains, while the Northern Bridge is partly closed after an attack that injured two people.
Meduza reported that Russian drones struck the Southern Bridge on October 1 and 2. The attacks damaged a bridge support, a guardrail, the road surface and a concrete barrier beside the metro tracks. The bridge remains closed to both road traffic and metro trains. The strikes have already contributed to severe traffic jams in Kyiv, the report said.
The Northern Bridge was attacked on October 3. Two people were injured, and the strike damaged the road surface and overhead trolleybus power lines. The bridge is now partially closed to traffic, Meduza reported. The source did not provide the injured people’s identities or describe the severity of their injuries.
Kyiv has nine bridges across the Dnipro, according to Meduza. Ukrainian experts cited in the report said drones alone could not destroy the bridges and that more powerful weapons would be required. They warned, however, that repeated drone attacks could damage the structures enough to make them unsafe and force traffic to stop.
How Bridge Damage Could Disrupt Kyiv
The bridges are important transport links across the Dnipro, connecting parts of a city whose road and public transport networks depend on crossings between the river’s banks. Closures can delay drivers and disrupt public transit, as the Southern Bridge’s road and metro restrictions already show.
The immediate reported consequences are damage, injuries and traffic disruption—not the destruction of a bridge. The longer-term concern raised by Ukrainian experts is that repeated strikes could make crossings unsafe, potentially requiring wider or longer closures. Meduza’s report does not quantify the effects on travel times or specify how many residents and routes have been affected.
The attacks also come amid broader concern about Russian strikes on Kyiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainian intelligence had intercepted communications indicating that Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered military commanders to disregard the rules of warfare during airstrikes. That is Zelenskyy’s account of intelligence findings; the report does not independently verify the alleged order.
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A New Target in Kyiv’s Transport Network
Meduza described the bridge attacks as the first strikes on Kyiv’s Dnipro crossings since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The source says the bridges had not previously come under attack. The reported sequence was two days of attacks on the Southern Bridge, followed by an attack on the Northern Bridge on October 3.
The report places the strikes within a period of intensified attacks on Kyiv. Zelenskyy said Putin issued the alleged order in September, when Russian strikes on the city became more frequent and caused greater damage to civilian infrastructure. His statement is a claim attributed to Ukrainian intelligence intercepts, not an independently confirmed finding in the source.
The Guardian separately reported that Western diplomats were preparing contingency plans to relocate their embassies from Kyiv as attacks intensified. Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said it knew nothing about those plans, according to Meduza. Russia also again called on Western diplomats to leave the capital. No embassy evacuations were confirmed in the report.
“Putin had ordered Russian military commanders to disregard the rules of warfare when carrying out airstrikes on Ukraine.”
— Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as reported by Meduza
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Damage, Safety and Diplomatic Plans
The available report does not establish the full extent of structural damage to either bridge, whether engineers have completed safety inspections, or how long the current restrictions will last. It also does not identify the specific weapons used beyond describing the attacks as drone strikes, or provide official Russian comment. The bridges’ longer-term safety remains unclear.
It is also not clear whether the attacks will continue or whether other Dnipro crossings will be targeted. The report offers no independently verified assessment of the alleged September order described by Zelenskyy. And while The Guardian reported contingency planning by Western diplomats, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said it was unaware of those plans; the source does not confirm that any embassy is moving.
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Bridge Inspections and Access Updates
The next practical developments will be any engineering assessments of the damaged bridges and official updates on whether restrictions can be lifted. Until authorities report that the structures and transport routes are safe, the Southern Bridge remains closed to cars and metro trains, and traffic on the Northern Bridge remains partially restricted, according to Meduza.
Further reporting will also be needed to establish whether the strikes continue, whether other crossings are affected and how the reported damage changes travel across Kyiv. Any decisions by foreign embassies about relocation remain unconfirmed in the source material. No reopening timetable or confirmed evacuation plan was provided in Meduza’s report.
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Key Questions
Which Kyiv bridges were attacked?
Meduza reported attacks on the Southern Bridge on October 1 and 2 and the Northern Bridge on October 3.
Are the bridges open to traffic?
The Southern Bridge is closed to cars and metro trains. The Northern Bridge is partially closed to traffic, according to Meduza. The report gives no reopening timetable.
Were there injuries?
Two people were injured in the October 3 attack on the Northern Bridge, Meduza reported. It did not provide details about the severity of their injuries.
Could the drone strikes destroy the bridges?
Ukrainian experts cited by Meduza said drones alone could not destroy the bridges and that more powerful weapons would be needed. They cautioned that repeated attacks could still make crossings unsafe.
Are Western embassies leaving Kyiv?
No relocation was confirmed in Meduza’s report. The Guardian reported contingency planning, while Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry said it knew nothing about those plans.
Source: rss
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