Fresh Russian strikes have targeted a second critical infrastructure bridge in Ukraine’s capital Kyiv, marking a sharp escalation in Moscow’s campaign against key city facilities, according to Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
The latest attack damaged the road surface and overhead power lines for trolleybus transit on the Northern Bridge, Klitschko confirmed in a statement posted to Telegram on Saturday. Following the strike, all traffic traveling from the left bank to the right bank of the Dnieper River on the bridge has been temporarily blocked, with emergency response teams already deployed to the site to assess damage and begin repairs.
This assault on the Northern Bridge comes just days after repeated Russian drone strikes targeted Kyiv’s Southern Bridge (known locally as Pivdennyi Bridge) starting last Thursday. In that initial attack, one Russian drone struck critical power cables on the Southern Bridge, disrupting transit operations.
Before this string of attacks that began Thursday, neither of the two major bridges connecting the eastern and western districts of Kyiv had been hit by Russian forces. Analysts and Ukrainian officials say this new targeting of key capital transit links signals a clear shift into a new phase of Russian offensive operations against Kyiv’s core infrastructure.
In the wake of the first attacks on the Southern Bridge, Kyiv’s Defense Council held an emergency crisis meeting on Friday. During that session, Klitschko issued a stark warning that the stepped-up pace of Russian drone and missile strikes was putting intense strain on the capital. He described the current situation facing Kyiv as “very dramatic,” noting that Russian forces are systematically targeting critical infrastructure, logistics networks, residential housing, and other essential facilities that keep the city functioning.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has defended the recent wave of strikes, claiming they are carried out in retaliation for Ukrainian attacks on Russian energy infrastructure. This claim comes despite historical records showing that Moscow first launched large-scale strikes targeting Ukrainian energy and critical infrastructure early in the full-scale invasion.