Kyiv faces heavy Russian attacks, traffic blocked on main bridge: Klitschko calls situation “very dramatic

A powerful wave of Russian missile and drone attacks has caused significant damage in Kyiv, affecting critical infrastructure and temporarily disrupting traffic on one of the Ukrainian capital’s most important bridges.

During the overnight attacks, a residential building was hit and one person was killed, Ukraine’s emergency service reported.

Kyiv Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko described the situation in the capital as “very dramatic.” He said the strikes had damaged critical infrastructure, logistics, residential buildings and other structures of importance to the city.

The Pivdenny Bridge, which connects parts of Kyiv across the Dnieper River and is one of the city’s main transport corridors, has been attacked several times over the past two days. Authorities said that the bridge was hit by a drone again on Friday alone, bringing the number of attacks against it to four within 48 hours.

As a safety measure, metro trains and vehicles were barred from crossing the bridge. Similar restrictions were also imposed on two other major bridges, causing heavy traffic in several areas of Kyiv.

The Ukrainian capital has around three million residents, while a large proportion of them use the metro as their main means of transport for daily travel.

Following the strikes, Kyiv’s defense council convened an emergency meeting attended by representatives of the military, security agencies, emergency services and police.

“We are talking about survival,” Klitschko said at the meeting. He accused Russia of seeking to spread panic and paralyze normal life in the capital.

The mayor added that Kyiv would continue to deal with the situation through cooperation between institutions and the city’s residents.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia was attempting to strike a broad range of infrastructure sectors across Ukraine.

In an excerpt from an interview with the Financial Times, Zelensky listed bridges, data centers, internet services, mobile networks, hospitals, kindergartens, schools and universities as targets.

According to the Ukrainian president, the aim of these attacks is to create conditions that would force residents to leave their cities.