Russian Airstrikes Force Kyiv Bridge Closures Over Dnipro River
Russian airstrikes forced the closure on October 2, 2026, of two bridges over the Dnipro River in Kyiv, disrupting hundreds of thousands of commuters as Moscow intensified its bombardment of Ukrainian infrastructure ahead of winter, Reuters reported.
Russian Air Strikes Choke Dnipro River Crossings
The morning strikes on October 1 and 2 created long traffic jams across the Ukrainian capital. Video footage shared online showed residents walking across a bridge that had been closed to cars and metro trains after sustaining multiple hits. Reuters confirmed that Russian drones smashed into the Southern Bridge over the Dnipro River and struck a school on Thursday, though pupils remained unhurt inside a shelter. Traffic across the Southern Bridge and part of the Paton Bridge was temporarily halted on Friday morning, while another bridge faced partial suspension. Movement across the crossings was restored by midday. Mayor Vitali Klitschko held a city security council meeting on Friday to assess the risks, describing the capital’s situation as very dramatic.
City authorities note that more than a third of Kyiv’s three million residents lived on the east, or left, bank before Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. However, only 18% of jobs are located on that side of the river. Economic analyst Andriy Shevchishin stated on Facebook that approximately 500,000 people commute daily from the left bank to the right bank, where government institutions and major companies are concentrated. Separate strikes in Kyiv killed one person and injured two others after a fire broke out on the upper floors of an apartment building. In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-biggest city, a guided-bomb strike killed two people and wounded 28, according to the regional governor.
Infrastructure Targets Linked to New Moscow Air Campaign Orders
A senior Ukrainian official stated that the coordinated attacks on the Dnipro River bridges, data centers, and power installations stem from an order issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin last month to scrap constraints on Russia’s air campaign, according to reporting first published by the Financial Times. Left-bank residents have endured severe power and heating outages every winter during the war due to targeted strikes on energy grids. One district, Troyeshchyna, spent more than a week without heating during sub-zero temperatures last winter. Memories of those freezing conditions remain prominent as residents face what was seen in Ukraine as the first salvo of an expected winter bombing campaign.
The Russian defense ministry claimed via Telegram that its drones successfully hit a Kyiv bridge over the Dnipro, a regional power station, the southwestern port of Izmail, and a cargo vessel, asserting that all targeted infrastructure served military purposes. Meanwhile, Ukrainian military strikes targeted industrial energy sites inside Russia, including the Lukoil refinery in Volgograd and another facility in the Samara region. President Vladimir Putin acknowledged that Ukrainian refinery attacks have cost Russia 1% of its gross domestic product, leading to long queues at petrol stations across the country.
Ukraine Seeks Air Defense Interceptors and Ammunition
Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha announced that Poland, Belgium, and Spain agreed to supply 20mm ammunition rounds for the cannons on Ukraine’s F-16 fighter jets, which serve as one of its most effective tools for the fight against fast-moving jet-powered drones. Kyiv anticipates securing agreements for several million rounds of this ammunition in the near future.