A Russian military strike hit the Northern Bridge in Kyiv on Saturday morning, according to Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The attack damaged the road surface and trolleybus overhead wires, forcing authorities to block traffic across the span. The strike represents the second consecutive hit on a major Kyiv bridge, as the Southern Bridge was targeted by Russian drones on Thursday and Friday of the same week.
The Northern and Southern bridges serve as critical links between the eastern and western sections of the Ukrainian capital, and neither had been attacked prior to Thursday, suggesting a shift in Russian targeting priorities. The earlier strikes on the Southern Bridge disrupted multiple forms of transportation across the city, including metro service and vehicular traffic. With approximately three million residents, many of whom depend on the metro system for movement across Kyiv, the infrastructure damage has created significant logistical challenges.
Russia’s defense ministry confirmed it targeted the Northern Bridge, claiming it was being used for military troop movements and supply operations. The ministry also stated it had struck a logistics facility within the city. Following the Southern Bridge attacks, Kyiv’s defense council convened an emergency meeting, after which Klitschko characterized the situation as “very dramatic” and noted that Moscow was conducting widespread strikes against critical infrastructure, logistics networks, residential areas, and other essential facilities.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky characterized the campaign as an attempt to devastate civilian infrastructure and force populations to leave their cities. He stated that Russian leadership has determined “there are no rules now” in its approach to attacking Ukraine. The Russian government has attributed its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure to retaliation for Ukrainian strikes on Russian energy facilities.
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