Russian drone damages Kyiv's North Bridge, traffic temporarily halted
A Russian jet-powered drone struck Kyiv's North Bridge over the Dnipro River, damaging the roadway and trolleybus power lines, forcing a temporary traffic suspension. It marks the second bridge in Kyiv hit by drone strikes within days.
Russian forces struck Kyiv's North Bridge, which spans the Dnipro River connecting its right and left banks, with a jet-powered attack drone, according to Ukrainska Pravda. The strike damaged the bridge's roadway surface and its trolleybus overhead power lines.
Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko confirmed the attack, saying traffic across the bridge heading from the left to the right bank has been temporarily suspended. The disruption has caused delays on several public transport routes, according to the Kyivpastrans transit operator. Three bus routes have been rerouted via the Podilskyi Bridge to ease congestion.
Second bridge hit within days
The North Bridge is not the only crossing targeted recently. In the first days of October, Russian forces repeatedly struck the South Bridge with jet-powered drones, hitting it at least five times within a day and a half. During one of these strikes, a drone exploded near a bridge support just as a metro train was crossing. Following the attacks, all traffic across the South Bridge — both vehicles and metro trains — was fully halted.
In response to the growing threat, Kyiv authorities introduced new traffic restrictions on October 2 for bridges crossing the Dnipro, including significant limits on North Bridge traffic during air raid alerts.
Separately, Ukraine's General Staff reported that Russian troop losses since the war began have reached 1,538,950, with 1,560 soldiers killed or wounded in the latest 24-hour period. Overnight into Saturday, Russia attacked Ukraine with 157 drones, of which 131 were shot down or neutralized.
