Russian strikes have hit a second major bridge in Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv, leaving two people injured and disrupting traffic across the city.
According to BBC, Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said the Pivnichnyi, or Northern, Bridge was struck on Saturday morning, damaging its road surface and overhead trolleybus power lines.
Traffic on the bridge was subsequently blocked, causing fresh congestion across the capital.
The attack came days after Russia targeted the Pivdennyi, or Southern, Bridge, with repeated drone strikes.
The attacks have disrupted road, rail and trolleybus connections between the western and eastern parts of Kyiv, which are separated by the Dnipro River.
Writing on Telegram on Saturday, Klitschko said, “emergency services are on their way” after the Northern Bridge was hit.
“Traffic on the bridge from the left to the right bank is currently blocked,” he added.
Russia said its drones had targeted the two bridges because they were being used to transport Ukrainian troops and military equipment.
Moscow also renewed its call for foreign nationals, including diplomats, to leave Kyiv.
The latest strike has heightened concerns that repeated attacks could force the closure of Kyiv’s bridges and further disrupt movement in the city.
Experts cited by the BBC said drones were unlikely to completely destroy the bridges, but repeated strikes could weaken their structures and make them unusable.
Klitschko had earlier described the situation in Kyiv as “very dramatic”, accusing Moscow of targeting the city’s “critical infrastructure, logistics, housing” and other key facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky also accused Russia of seeking to cripple essential infrastructure.
In an interview with the Financial Times, he said, “The Russians have failed to occupy us. So now they are carrying out massive attacks and mass killings.”
He added, “They want to destroy our bridges… our data centres, the internet, mobile networks, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, universities – everything. They want people to flee their cities.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow’s attacks were a response to Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities and ships in the Black Sea.
“Now from every direction we’re receiving calls ‘let’s stop’. But they started it,” Putin said after a speech at the Valdai foreign policy forum.
The latest attacks come as Russia continues to target Ukrainian infrastructure during the ongoing war, which began with Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
